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f  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS.? 


#(|fe? |ore"Si't|:o # 

I       -^^^^"J    H.I 

*  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  f 


THE 


COVENANTS. 


.,1^ 


ROBT.  BOYTE  c!  HOWELL,  D.D. 

Pastor  of  the  Main-Street  (Second  Baptist)  Church,  Richmond,  Va. 


author  of 

'terms  of  communion,"   "the  deaconship,"   "the  way  of  salvation," 

"the  evils  of  infant  baptism,'*  "the  cross,'*  etc. 


*  Whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime,  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  we 
through  patience,  and  comfort  of  the  scriptures,  might  have  hope."— Paul. 


CHARLESTON: 

SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY. 

M  D  P  C  CLV. 


^ 


-9^^^^ 
^-^ 


Entered,  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855,  by 
ROBT.  BOYTE  C.  HOWELL,  D.D. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Virginia. 


JAMES,  WILLIAMS  &  GITSINGER. 

3  Broad-st.,  Charleston. 


TO 

a 

^     N.    M.    CEAWFORD,    D.D.. 

I  President  of  Mercer  University,  Georgia, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATE [;Y  DEDICATED, 

IN  TESTIMOXY  OF  THE 

HIGH  REGARD  IN  WHICH  HE  IS  HELD, 

AS 

A  Christian,  a  Minister,  and  a  Relative 

BY  THE   AUTHOR. 


PEEFACE. 


The  covenants  discussed  in  the  following^  pages,  con- 
nect themselves  with  true  religion  in  every  age.  I 
liave  studied  them  carefully,  and  with  much  satisfaction. 
Tlie  sketch  now  presented  has,  I  confess,  cost  me  no 
little  labor;  but  it  has  aided  me  in  acquiring  a  still 
more  full,  and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God. 
In  the  hope  that  it  may  confer  a  like  benefit  upon  others, 
it  is  sent  forth  to  the  world.  May  God,  our  heavenly 
Father,  make  this  little  volume  a  blessing  to  his  cause, 
and  people,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

ROBT.  BOYTE  0.  HOWELL. 

Rich:\[Oxd,  Ya.,  January  6tli,  1855. 


\ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  P^QL 

The  Cotkxaxts,  --------        i 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Covenant  op  Works,      -------        7 

CHAPTER  IIL 
Thi:  Covfa'ant  ok  Eden, -       18 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Covkxant  of  PiMdeuptjon, -      30 

CHAPTER  y. 
TifE  Covenant  of  Promise  in  Curlst  to  Abraham,  -      44 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Covenants  of  the  Law, 63 

CHAPTER  YII. 
Philology  of  the  Covenants, 78 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Old  (Covenant  and  the  New  Covenant,       -        -  99 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Teachings  of  the  Covenants.        -        ■  -     112 


THE   COVENANTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE     COVENANTS. 


Not  understood  ;  the  causes  o4it ;  proposed  method  of  discussion  ; 
simplicity  of  the  subject ;  its  importance. 

Salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  is  according  to 
"the   determinate   counsel,  and  foreknowledge  of 
God."*     He  was  pleased  to  make  known   to   the 
fathers,  his  purposes  in  this  behalf,  in   the  form  of 
covenants,  which  were  of  different  characters,  and 
revealed  at  various  times.     These  covenants  enter 
into  the  very  nature,  and  pervade  with  their  pecu- 
liar qualities,  the  whole  system  of  divine  grace.     A 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  therefore,  involves 
necessarily,  a  correct  comprehension  of  the  cove- 
nants.    But  by  whom  among  us,  are  these  covenants 
clearly  understood  ?     To  most  men,  you  need  only 
to  speak  on  this  subject,  and  you  at  once  perceive 
that   "Even   unto   this  day,  the  vail  is  upon  their 

•  Acts  u :  23. 


^4  THE  COVENANTS. 

heart."*  They  fail  to  perceive  what  the  covenants 
are  in  themselves,  in  their  relations  to  each  other, 
and  consequently  in  their  bearings  upon  the  designs 
of  God  in  the  Redeemer  !  This  darkness  is  lament- 
able in  all  its  aspects,  since  falling  short  of  the 
know^ledge  of  these, — "  the  rudiments  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ," — obscurity  must  necessarily  rest  upon  the 
whole  Gospel  system.  How  can  he  who  does  not 
perceive  "the  first  principles"  of  any  specified 
science,  ever  become  a  master  of  that  science  ? 

But  why  should  obscurity  rest  upon  a  knowledge 
of  the  covenants  ?  Are  they  in  themselves,  difficult 
of  comprehension  ?  Far  from  it.  No  part  of  the 
word  of  God  is  more  plain,  and  simple.  The  causes 
of  their  perplexity,  and  embarrassment,  are  to  be 
sought  for  in  other  quarters.  Nor  are  they  proble- 
matical. To  every  intelligent,  and  unprejudiced 
observer,  they  are  so  obvious  as  not  to  be  readily 
mistaken.  Who  does  not  know  that  for  ages  past, 
they  have  been  the  prolific  ,  source"^  from  which 
theological  polemics  of  every  caste,  and  of  the  most 
opposite  sentiments,  have  sought  to  derive  support 
for  many  of  their  most  extravagant  speculations  in 
religion,  and  especially  in  the  departments  of  eccle- 
siastical organization,  the  nature  and  efficacy  of 
those  ordinances  commonly  known  as  sacraments, 
and  the  required  qualifications  for  membership  in 
the  church  of  Christ  ?  By  each  class  they  receive 
such  expositions  as  that  to  superficial  minds,  they 
appear  to  sustain  its  own  peculiar  conclusions.     In 

*2Cor.iii:  15. 


THE  COVENANTS.  3 

this  work  of  perversion,  both  the  pulpit,  and  the 
press  have  been  profuse,  and  elaborate.  Witsius, 
and  Boston,  Strong,  and  Russell,  Macknight,  Dick, 
Dvvight,  and  many  others,  have  written  profoundly. 
But  who  has  been  enlightened  ?  Have  they  not 
rather  *'  darkened  counsel,  by  words  without  know- 
ledge ?"  However  this  may  be,  the  opinion  has 
been  created,  and  now  prevails  almost  universally, 
that  the  whole  subject  is  exceedingly  abstruse,  so 
much  so  indeed,  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of 
ordinary  minds.  By  whom  now,  are  the  covenants 
even  studied,  independently  of  some  recognized 
guide,  apart  from  the  Scriptures  ?  Ministers  them- 
selves, who  preach  sermons,  and  write  controversial 
essays  upon  them,  and  assume  to  enlighten  public 
sentiment,  are  with  almost  no  exceptions,  meantime, 
tamely  following  in  the  track  of  such  writers  as 
happen  to  have  gained  the  confidence  of  that  par- 
ticular denomination  to  which  they  are  severally 
attached.  Investigation  has  really  ceased  on  this 
subject,  and  error  has  become  stereotyped  ! 

You  have  only  to  look  into  the  books  that  are 
issued  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  you  will 
see  how  confidently  the  covenants  are  claimed  as 
authority  for  the  union  of  church  and  state,  and  for 
the  severance  of  church  and  state  ;  for  Popery, 
and  for  Lutheranism,  for  Prelacy,  and  for  Presby- 
tery ;  for  the  introduction  of  infants  into  the  church 
of  Christ,  and  for  the  connection  with  it  of  none  but 
believers !  The  adherents  of  each  party,  are  per- 
fectly certain  that  the  covenants  fully  sustain  the 
doctrines   they  advocate.     They  have  seen  them, 


4  THE  COVENANTS. 

not  indeed,  in  the  Bible,  but  only  through  the  me- 
dium of  some  essayist  of  their  own  class.  The 
result  has  necessarily  been  a  perplexity,  and  con- 
fusion almost  hopeless. 

These  are  some  of  the  causes  by  which  the  un- 
derstanding of  this  subject  has  been  rendered,  to 
many  minds,  so  exceedingly  difficult.  How  until 
they  are  removed,  can  the  covenants  ever  be  com- 
prehended? While  their  sense,  and  purposes,  con- 
tinue to  be  thus  turned  aside,  and  perverted,  the 
hearts  of  the  simple  must  be  deceived,  and  to  many 
sincere  christians,  much  of  the  word  of  God  remain 
a  sealed  book. 

In  the  investigation  upon  which  we  are  now  en- 
tering, I  shall  in  the  outset,  direct  your  attention  to 
**the  covenant  of  works,"  the  breach  of  which  made 
all  the  others  necessarj^  It  stands  by  itself,  and 
will  be  so  treated.  Next  I  shall  refer  you  to  the 
thr^ee  separate  developements  of  the  covenants, — of 
salvation  in  the  Mediator ;  the  first  being  the  an- 
nouncement in  Eden,  immediately  after  the  fall,  of  a 
Deliverer  from  sin ;  the  second,  the  previous  cove- 
nant of  redemption,  upon  which  necessarilj'-,  that 
announcement  was  predicated ;  and  the  third,  the 
promise  to  Abraham  that  Messiah  should  come  of 
his  family,  which  promise  was  renewed,  and  trans- 
ferred successively,  to  Isaac,  to  Jacob,  to  Judah, 
and  to  David.  I  shall  then  consider  the  three  manifes- 
tations of  the  covenant  of  the  law  ;  the  first  of  which, 
made  with  Abraham,  constituted  his  descendants  a 
separate  nation,  and  gave  them  as  the  place  of  their 
residence  until  the  coming  of  Messiah,  the  land  of 


THE  COVENANTS.  5 

Canaan  ;  the  second  of  which,  also  made  with 
Abraham,'  enacted  circumcision,  and  thus  distin- 
guished his  posterity  personally,  from  all  other  men  ; 
and  the  third,  made  with  all  Israel  at  Sinai,  gave 
them  their  peculiar  national  government.  It  will 
be  necessary  here,  for  us  to  pause,  and  investi- 
gate the  philology  of  these  covenants;  which  when 
we  have  examined,  we  shall  consider  how  they  ap- 
pear in  relation  to  the  christian  dispensation.  It  will 
then  at  once  be  apparent  that  the  former  three  cov- 
enants were  direct  in  their  reference  to  Christ,  and 
were  substantially  o«e  coye/^/a/i^,  made  known  in  the 
gospel,  as  '*  the  new  and  everlasting  covenant;" 
and  that  the  latter  three  were  indirect  in  their  refer- 
ence to  Christ,  together  formed  the  old  cover} ant y  and 
when  Messiah  came,  and  his  claims  were  fully 
established,  were  consummated,  and  superceded  by 
the  gospel,  which  is  their  perfect  developement.  I 
shall  then  close  the  discussion  by  a  brief  ex- 
planation of  the  doctrinal,  and  practical  teachings 
of  the  covenants.  In  this  sketch  I  have  not,  you 
will  perceive,  included  all  the  covenants  of  every 
class,  recorded  in  the  word  of  God,  such,  for 
example,  as  the  covenant  with  Noah,  the  covenant 
of  the  priesthood  in  the  family  of  Aaron,  and  many 
others  of  minor  importance,  because  they  are  not 
especially  connected  with  the  promises  which  guar- 
antied a  Messiah,  and  do  not,  therefore,  immediately 
concern  our  present  investigation  ;  and  because  by 
omitting  them,  we  shall  be  able,  without  detriment 
to  a  perfect  understanding  of  the  whole  subject,  to 
attain  much  more  brevity,  and  directness,  than 
would  otherwise  be  practicable. 


6  THE  COVENANTS. 

These  preliminary  considerations  submitted,  in 
which  we  have  seen  that  the  covenants  are  not  un- 
derstood ;  the  causes  of  that  obscurity  ;  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  their  comprehension  has  been 
perplexed,  and  embarrassed  ;  and  the  method  pro- 
posed in  their  investigation  ;  I  proceed  at  once, 
to  the  execution  of  my  task.  All  the  theories 
and  discussions  which  they  have  heretofore  eli- 
cited, and  of  which  the  world  is  full,  1  shall, 
learned  and  ingenious  as  many  of  them  are,  eschew 
wholly.  With  the  Bible  before  us,  and  the  Bible 
only,  we  shall  carefully,  and  prayerfully  pursue  our 
purpose.  By  this  process  the  prevailing  obscu- 
rity will  vanish.  You  will  be  surprised  that  it 
ever  existed.  Not  only  will  you  clearly,  and  fully 
understand  the  covenants  themselves,  but  the  know- 
ledge of  them,  will  cast  over  every  other  part  of  the 
divine  record,  a  brightness  and  beauty,  that  will  fill 
your  heart  with  surprise,  and  overwhelming  delight. 
And  as  you  thus  see  more  and  more  of  the  good- 
ness, and  grace  of  God,  his  word  will  become  to  your 
heart  increasingly  precious. 


COVENANT  OF  WORKS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  COVENANT  OF  WORKS. 

Man  as  created  ;  definition  of  a  covenant ;  nature  of  the  covenant 
of  works  ;  blessings  of  obedience  ;  penalty  of  disobedience  ;  con- 
dition as  a  sinner. 

How  beautiful  is  the  scene  in  which  man  first 
appears  upon  the  stage  of  being  !  He  is  the  niost 
exalted  emanation  of  God.  Himself  clothed  in  dig- 
nity, intelligence,  and  excellence,  he  is  surrounded 
on  every  side  by  exquisite  beauty  and  loveliness. 
Balmy  breezes,  loaded  with  the  fragrance  of  Eden, 
fan  his  bosom.  Rich  foliage,  and  flowers  of  every 
form  and  hue,  delight  his  senses.  Rivers  roll  in 
majesty  before  him,  and  rills  are  at  his  feet,  whose 
waters  dance,  and  sparkle  in  the  sunlight.  The 
companion  of  his  paradise,  is  more  eu  being  of 
heaven  than  of  earth,  an  embodiment  of  elegance, 
and  grace,  and  love  !  Angels  are  their  familiar 
associates.  God  himself  deigns  to  visit,  and  cheer 
them  by  his  presence,  and  blessing.  They  are  in 
soul  and  in  body,  pure  and  holy,  and,  therefore,  im- 
mortal, and  perfectly  happy. 

Brought  into  being,  and  gloriously  endowed  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  for  his  own  holy,  and  sovereign 
purposes,  our  first  parents  were  necessarily  created 


8  COVENANT  OP  WORKS. 

under  the  government  of  appropriate  laws,  and 
therefore  in  covenant  with  their  Maker.  No  fact  is 
more  plain  and  certain,  than  that  nothing  can  exist 
in  an)''  department  of  the  universe,  whether  physi- 
cal, mental,  moral,  or  spiritual,  without  an  appro- 
priate government  by  which  it  may  be  directed.  The 
laws  which  governed  man  have  been  called,  and  pro- 
perly, the  covenant  of  works.  But  what  are  we  to  un- 
derstand by  a  covenant?  A  covenant,  I  answer,  has 
been  defined  by  Lexicographers,  *'  A  mutual  consent, 
or  agreement  between  two  or  more  parties,  to  do,  or 
to  forbear,  some  act,  or  thing  ;  a  contract ;  a  stipu- 
lation ;  an  appointment ;  a  testament."  This  ex- 
position, which  refers  to  its  ordinary  sense,  must  not, 
as  you  will  readily  see,  he  too  literally  applied  to 
the  divine  transaction  known  in  the  scriptures  as  a 
covenant  ;*  which  if  you  invest  with  the  technicali- 
ties of  a  mere  human  bargain,  you  err  inevitably. 
A  covenant,  as  that  word  occurs  in  the  sacred  ora- 
cles, describes,  in  some  places,  an  appointment,  or 
law  ;  in  others  a  command,  or  a  promise  ;  and  fre- 
quently an  arrangement,  a  constitution,  a  dispensa- 
tion. But  in  many  instances,  as  in  that  of  the  cove- 
nant now  to  be  considered,  and  in  several  others 
hereafter  to  occupy  your  attention,  the  word  is  not 
employed  at  all  in  connexion  with  the  transaction. 
The  facts  in  the  case  alone,  determine  whether  what 
is  done  amounts  legitimately  to  a  covenant.  In  its 
gospel  application  a  covenant  is  ''  A  settlement,  or 
an  establishment  of  things,  wherein  by  means  of  a 


COVENANT  OF  WORKS.  0 

Mediator,  God  reconciles  men  to  himself,  and  takes 
them  into  a  friendly  relation  as  his  own  peculiar 
people  ;  stipulates  for  them  blessings,  and  privileges, 
and  gives  them  his  laws,  and  ordinances,  as  the 
rule  of  their  obedience,  and  the  means  of  their  in- 
tercourse with  him."  Such  I  understand  to  be  a 
covenant  in  its  ordinary  sense,  and  especially  in  its 
scriptural  acceptation. 

Let  these  expositions  now  be  applied  to  the  events 
which  characterized  the  creation  of  man  upon  the 
earth.  He  was  we  have  seen,  brought  into  exist- 
ence, necessarily  under  an  appropriate  government. 
The  law  of  his  being,  '*  Takes,"  says  Dr.  Dwight, 
**in  this  case,  the  name  of  a  covenant,  rather  than 
that  of  a  law,  (although  it  has  all  the  nature,  and 
sanctions  of  a  law)  because  God  was  pleased  to 
communicate  his  will  to  man  in  the  form  of  a  cove- 
nant ;  a  mode  gentle,  condescending,  and  highly  ex- 
pressive of  the  divine  benignity."*  It  is  recorded 
in  the  divine  word,  in  terms  singularly  brief,  and 
comprehensive.  "Of  every  tree  of  the  garden,"  said 
Jehovah,  to  him,  ''  Thou  mayest  freely  eat ;  but  of 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good,  and  evil,  thou 
shalt  not  eat  of  it ;  for,  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest 
thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die.'"!  B^^  still  more  at 
large: — "God  said,  let  us  make  man,  in  our  image, 
after  our  likeness ;  and  let  them  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air, 
and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over 
every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth, 

♦  Theology,  vol.  1,  p.  397.  t  Gen.  ii ;  16, 17. 


1 0  COVENANT  OF  WORKS. 

So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image  ;  in  the  im- 
age of  God  created  he  him;  male  and  female  crea* 
ted  he  them."  ''And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nos- 
trils the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living 
soul.  And  the  Lord  God  planted  a  garden  eastward 
in  Eden,  and  there  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had 
formed.  And  out  of  the  ground  made  the  Lord  God 
to  grow  every  tree  that  is  pleasant  to  the  sight,  and 
good  for  food  ;  the  tree  of  life  also  in  the  midst  of 
the  garden,  and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil."  *'  And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man,  and 
put  him  into  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  dress,  and  to 
keep  it.  And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man, 
saying,  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  mayest 
freely  eat ;  but  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it,  for  in  the  day  that 
thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die."* 

We  here  have,  in  the  beginning  of  the  world,  dis- 
tinctly placed  before  us,  as  the  parties  to  the  co- 
venant, God,  and  man,  the  Creator,  and  the  crea- 
ted, the  Governor,  and  the  governed.  In  the  cove- 
nant itself,  brief  as  it  is,  we  have  concentred  all 
those  primary,  anterior,  and  eternal  principles  of 
truth,  righteousness,  and  justice,  which  enter  neces- 
sarily into  the  nature  of  the  great  God,  and  which 
must  always  pervade  his  government,  under  what- 
ever dispensation ;  we  have  a  full  recognition  of 
his  authority  to  govern  his  intelligent  creatures,  ac- 
cording to  these  principles  ;  and  we  have  a  perfect 

*Gen,x:  26-31 5  ii ;  1-25. 


COVENANT  OP  WORKS.  11 

acknowledgment  on  the  part  of  man,  that  in  all 
things  he  is  subject,  as  a  rational  and  accountable 
being,  to  the  will  and  direction  of  the  infinitely  wise 
and  benevolent  Creator.  No  part  of  a  covenant 
therefore,  in  its  proper  sense,  is  wanting.  And  it 
is  further  to  be  observed  that  its  great  principles 
were  not  only  outwardly  proclaimed,  they  were  also 
written  in  the  consciences  of  men,  as  they  w^ere  upon 
that  of  all  other  intelligences ;  and  that  they  neces- 
sarily bind  them  all  alike  to  the  throne  of  Jehovah, 
^n  them  we  have  plainly  the  sum  of  all  moral  and 
spiritual  government,  whether  on  earth  or  in  hea- 
ven ;  among  men  or  among  angels  ;  under  the  law 
or  under  the  gospel.  These  exalted  principles  are 
indeed  not  peculiar  to  the  covenant  of  works.  They 
enter  fully,  also,  into  all  the  other  covenants  recorded 
in  the  divine  word.  They  are  the  same  that  were 
met,  honored,  and  fulfilled  on  our  behalf,  by  the 
righteousness  and  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

That  the  covenant  of  works  is  connate  with  man, 
and  that  its  principles  are  by  him  every  where  re- 
cognised, appear  in  the  traces  of  it,  still  discerni- 
ble in  his  soul.  From  this  source  it  is,  in  part  at 
least,  that  even  the  heathen  themselves,  however 
dark  and  ignorant,  have  some  glimmerings  of  light 
from  heaven,  so  that  an  apostle  could  say — ''These 
having  not  the  [written]  law,  are  a  law  unto  them- 
selves, who  show  the  law  written  in  their  hearts, 
their  conscience  also  bearing  witness,  and  their 
thoughts  meanwhile  accusing,  or  else  excusing  one 
another."*  Carried  out  in  its  principles,  this  is  the 
*Rom.  ii;  14,  15. 


12  COVENANT  OF  WORKS. 

covenant  that  governs  all  the  relations  between  man 
and  man,  and  between  man  and  his  Maker.  Its 
substance  is  love,  and  it  is  set  forth  in  both  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New,  as  descriptive  of  the  state 
of  mind  to  which  all  men  must  return,  before  we  can 
be  fully  prepared  for  heaven  and  glory.  This  fact 
is  thus  inculcated  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ : — 
**  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
strength,''  "  and  thy  neighbors  as  thyself."*  And 
its  sufficiency  is  declared  by  his  apostle :  "  Love  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law.'^f  In  its  nature,  it  is  an 
exact  reflection  of  the  moral  perfections  of  God, 
and  its  observance  is  the  highest  distinction  of 
which  man  is  capable. 

The  covenant  of  works  demanded  as  its  condi- 
tions, perfect"  obedience. 

Nor  was  this  in  any  degree  difficult.  One  test 
only  was  instituted,  by  which  that  obedience  was 
to  be  formally  expressed  ;  abstinence  from  the  tree 
of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  How  simple, 
and  easy,  was  the  observance  of  the  obligation ! 
How  appaling  the  consequences  of  its  violation  ! 
Compliance  however,  as  is  true  in  regard  to  all  the 
other  laws  of  God,  was  not  confined  exclusively  to 
external  action.  The  state  of  the  heart  was  of  pri- 
mary consideration.  The  covenant  claimed  to  gov- 
ern not  the  conduct  alone,  but  also,  then  as  now, 
the  powers  of  the  inner  man.  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit 

♦  Matt,  xxii ;  37-40.  f  Rom.  xiii :  10. 


COVENANT  OF  WORKS.  13 

and  in  truth."*  ''The  whole  heart  must  be  in  per- 
fect submission,  uninterrupted  by  a  single  insurgent 
feeling.  A  purit}^  of  character  must  be  maintained, 
uncontaminated  by  a  single  spot.  A  zeal  and  de- 
votion must  be  preserved,  unrelaxing  in  a  single 
purpose." 

The  covenant  of  w^orks  was  in  its  nature  fitted, 
and  designed  to  give,  and  did  give  uninterrupted 
happiness,  as  long  as  its  requisitions  were  observed. 
This  is  true  throughout  the  whole  moral  universe  of 
God.  I  have  before  intimated  that  man  is  not  the 
only  being  under  its  government.  It  is  the  law  of 
angels  themselves.  To  their  nature,  no  less  than  to 
man's  while  in  a  state  of  holiness,  it  is  perfectly 
adapted.  Those  of  them  who  "have  kept  their 
first  estate,"  are  conformed  perfectly  to  all  its  de- 
mands. They  meet,  and  satisfy  them  fully  by  love ; 
fervent  love  to  God,  and  to  all  their  celestial  asso- 
ciates. Heaven  is  pervaded  consequently  wath  the 
unbroken  harmonies  of  love.  And  how  unspeaka- 
bly happy  !  O,  who  can  estimate  the  joy,  deep, 
calm,  overwhelming,  that  fills  angelic  bosoms  !  Nor 
was  man  originally,  and  during  the  whole  period  of 
his  holiness,  less  happy.  Who  can  adequately  con- 
ceive of  half  his  joys  ?  Whence  all  this  pure,  this 
unmingled  delight  ?  It  arose  exclusively,  as  a  pe- 
rennial fountain,  from  the,covenant  of  works.  ''  The 
man,"  said  Paul,  "  that  doeth  these  things^  shall  live 
by  them."t  His  bliss  is  unfading.  Happiness  em- 
braces every  ultimate  good.     Perfect  happiness,  is 

♦  John  iv :  24.  t  Rom.  x :  6. 


14  COVENANT  OP  WORKS. 

perfect  good.  God  intended  man,  and  all  his  crea- 
tures, to  be  thus  happy.  To  gain  this  end  was  the 
purpose  of  the  covenant.  To  all  the  obedient  it. 
was,  and  ever  must  be,  complete  in  its  results. 

The  penalty  of  a  violation  of  the  covenant  of 
works,  next  demands  our  attention. 

All  its  blessings  instantly  cease.  Transgression 
turns  them  all  aside,  and  converts  them  into  so 
many  fountains  of  wretchedness  and  woe  !  And 
man,  alas,  became  a  transgressor,  and  incurred  the 
penalty.  The  manner  of  this  transgression  is  thus 
narrated  in  the  sacred  record  : — "  Now  the  serpent 
was  more  subtile  than  any  beast  of  the  field,  w^hich 
the  Lord  God  had  made.  And  he  said  unto  the 
woman  ;  Yea,  hath  God  said,  ye  shall  not  eat  of 
every  tree  of  the  garden  ?  And  the  woman  said 
unto  the  serpent ;  We  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the 
trees  of  the  garden,  but  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said ; 
Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest 
ye  die.  And  the  serpent  said  unto  the  woman  ;  Ye 
shall  not  surely  die,  for  God  doth  know  that  in  the 
day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened, 
and  ye  shall  be  as  Gods,  knowing  good  and  evil.  And 
when  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for 
food,  and  that  it  was  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  a  tree 
to  be  desired  to  make  one.  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit 
thereof,  and  did  eat;  and  she  gave  also  unto  her 
husband  with  her,  and  he  did  eat."*  The  deed  was 
done  !    The  tempter  triumphed.    All  was  lost.  The 

*Gen.  iii:l-6. 


COVENANT  OF  WORKS.  15 

obligations  of  the  covenant,  and  its  curses  alone  re- 
mained. **By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
and  death  by  sin."*  Miserable  and  hopeless  beings  ! 
How  can  they  escape?  The  covenant  provides  no 
Mediator,  nor  any  other  method  of  restoration  to 
the  purity  w^hich  is  now  lost.  Between  the  blessing 
of  obedience,  and  the  curse  of  disobedience,  there 
is  no  middle  ground.  **  The  soul  thrit  sinneth,  it 
shall  die."t  Nor  does  this  inevitable  result  arise 
from  a  mere  arbitrary  decision  on  the  part  of  God, 
but  from  the  very  nature  of  that  justice,  and  holi- 
ness, and  truth,  without  which  the  moral  world 
would  be  but  a  horrid  mass  of  confusion  and  de- 
struction. The  law  of  gravitation  for  example,  is 
essential  to  the  existence  of  the  physical  universe. 
Remove  this  law,  and  all  the  "  fair  fabric"  we  be- 
hold, would  be  instantly  dissolved.  Place  yourself 
in  opposition  to  this  law%  in  itself  so  wdse  and  be- 
nevolent, and  you  arc  in  a  moment  crushed  and  de- 
stroyed by  its  force.  So  as  to  the  laws  of  health.  Obey 
them  and  all  is  well.  Habitually  violate  them,  and 
you  destroy  your  life.  Thus  the  covenant  secured 
to  our  first  parents,  while  obeyed,  holiness,  and 
happiness,  and  life.  Transgressed,  it  overwhelmed 
them  in  guilt,  and  misery,  and  death. 

We  have  now  seen  the  covenant  of  works,  in  its 
nature,  in  its  demands,  in  its  blessings,  and  in  its 
penalty.  Let  us,  in  conclusion,  contemplate  it  in 
relation  to  man  as  a  sinner. 

The  violation  of  the  covenant  did  not  cancel  his 

*  Rom.  V :  11.  t  Ezekiel  xrii :  4. 


16  COVENANT  OP  WORKS, 

obligations  still  to  obey  all  its  requirements.  What- 
ever disabilities  may  have  been  incurred  by  the 
transgression,  and  especially  by  the  consequent  de- 
pravity of  human  nature,  our  relations  to  the  law 
were  not  thereby  changed.  Are  those  who  trans- 
gress the  laws  of  our  country  thereby  absolved 
from  the  penalty  denounced  against  future  obe- 
dience ?  Surely  not.  Are  the  loss  of  the  incli- 
nation, and  even  the  ability,  when  it  is  a  con- 
sequence of  previous  sin,  a  sufficient  apology  for 
not  complying  with  the  demands  of  justice,  and 
truth,  to  the  utmost  practicable  extent  ?  A  drunk- 
ard may  have  no  wish,  and  he  may  have  lost  much 
of  his  power,  to  keep  sober.  Is  it,  therefore,  no  sin 
for  him  to  be  drunken  ?  No  such  principle  obtains 
in  any  equitable  human  government.  Nor  does  it 
in  the  government  of  God.*  Embracing,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  its  nature,  all  those  principles  which  consti- 
tute holiness,  justice,  and  truth,  this  covenant  re- 
mained not  only  unimpaired  in  its  claims,  by  its 
primitive  transgression,  but  continues  in  every  age 
in  full  force.  You  are,  therefore,  to-day,  as  much 
obliged  to  be  conformed  to  its  injunctions  as  were 
our  first  parents  before  the  fall.  You  do  not  obey 
them.  Therefore,  you,  also  are  a  sinner,  and  justly 
condemned  before  God. 

You  inherit  the  condition  of  our  first  parents 
in  other  respects  also,  and  especially  in  their  expo- 
sure to  misery  and  death,  spiritual,  temporal,  and 
eternal.     The   covenant,   while  observed,  guarded 

*  Yide  Way  of  Salration,  cliap,  li. 


II 


COVENANT  OF  WORKS.  17 

their  holiness,  their  happiness,  and  their  life.  By 
its  violation,  that  guard  was  removed,  and  all  was 
lost.  They  stood  before  God,  guilty  and  ruined! 
And  so,  for  any  thing  man  can  do,  they,  and  their 
posterity  must  stand  forever.  It  is  a  characteristic 
inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  justice,  that  once  a 
man  is  an  offender,  he  can  never  afterwards  be  by 
the  same  law,  pronounced  innocent  of  crime.  He 
may  have  been  pure  up  to  that  hour;  he  may  be 
pure  ever  after ;  he  may  weep  perpetual  tears  of 
penitence  over  his  crime;  but  he  is  an  offender  still, 
and  if  justice  is  permitted  to  speak,  she  will  pro- 
nounce him  guiltj'.  This  is  true  of  human  laws; 
and  how  much  more  of  the  laws  of  God  !  Such  was 
the  condition  of  man,  M'hen  he  had  violated  the 
covenant  of  works.  Our  first  parents  had  sinned. 
They  w^ere  cursed.  Penitence  for  their  crime  could 
not  change  the  fact.  No  subsequent  good  action 
could  expiate  their  guilt.  What  hope  had  they  ? 
The  covenant,  the  only  law  of  w^hich  they  had  any 
knowledge,  could  not  save  them,  because  it  con- 
tained no  provisions  for  pardon  ;  because  it  was  a 
faithful  reflection  of  God's  own  holy  character,  and 
must  be  enforced ;  and  because  with  sin  came  de- 
pravity, for  the  removal  of  which  it  provided  no 
method.  What  blessing  could  this  violated  covenant 
now  confer  ?  It  could  only  repeat  perpetually,  and  it 
ever  continues  to  repeat,  guilty ;  ffuilty  ;  guilty  !  In 
this  attitude  did  they  stand  before  God  ;  and  thus 
out  of  Christ,  do  we  all  stand  before  God  ;  criminal, 
and  helpless,  and  lost ! 


18  THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN 


CHAPTER  III, 

THE    COVENANT    OF    EDEN. 

The  announcement  of  the  seed  of  the  woman  a  promise  of  Christ ; 
this  promise  was  a  covenant ;  character  and  work  of  Messiah 
declared  ,  further  explained  by  sacrifices  ;  influence  of  this  cove- 
nant upon  the  faith,  and  piety  of  the  patriarchs  ;  lessons  taught 
by  this  covenant. 

The  first  announcement  of  a  Deliverer  for  man, 
from  the  horrible  position  in  which  sin  had  placed 
him,  w^as  made  in  Eden,  immediately  after  the  fall, 
by  God  himself.  It  was  addressed,  in  the  presence 
of  our  first  parents,  to  the  malicious  tempter.  *'  I 
will  put  enmity,''  said  he,  *'  between  thee,  and  the 
woman  ;  and  between  thy  seed,  and  her  seed.  It 
shall  bruise  thy  head  ;  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 
heel."*  May  this  declaration  be  accounted,  and 
received,  in  any  proper  and  correct  sense,  as  a  cove- 
nant ?  Why  I  ask,  may  it  not  ?  It  was  a  stipulation, 
a  promise,  a  declaration  ojf  the  divine  purpose,  an 
appointment.  Particularly,  was  it  not  "A  settle- 
ment, or  an  establishment  of  things,  wherein  by 
means  of  a  Mediator,  God  designed  to  reconcile 
men,  and  take  them  into  a  friendly  relation  with 
himself?"    If  the  definition  of  a  word  may  be  pro- 

♦Gen.m:  15. 


THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN.  19 

perly  substituted  for  the  word  itself,  and  that  it 
may,  no  one  will  dispute,  then  is  it  shown  by  the 
exposition  of  the  former  chapter,  that  this  an- 
nouncement is  unquestionably  a  covenant  in  the 
highest  sense  of  that  term.  It  contained  within 
itself,  a  promise  of  Messiah,  with  a  declaration  as 
to  the  humanity  of  his  nature,  and  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  having  his  own  heel,  or  humanity  bruised, 
but  at  the  same  time,  bruising  the  head,  or  over- 
throwing the  power  of  Satan,  he  would  achieve  the 
redemption  of  men.  That  our  first  parents,  and  all 
the  primitive  saints  fully  so  understood  it,  there  can 
reasonably'  be  no  doubt.  That  your  mind  may  be 
still  more  deeply  impressed  with  these  facts,  let  the 
whole  passage  in  which  this  covenant  occurs,  be 
repeated.  Speaking  of  our  first  parents,  Moses 
says ; — **  They  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God, 
walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  and 
Adam,  and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,  amongst  the  trees  of  the  garden. 
And  the  Lord  God  called  unto  Adam,  and  said, 
Where  art  thou  ?  And  he  said,  I  heard  thy  voice  in 
the  garden,  and  I  was  afraid,  [ashamed]  because  I 
was  naked,  and  I  hid  myself.  And  he  said,  Wh© 
told  thee  that  thou  wast  naked  ?  Hast  thou  eaten 
of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou 
shouldest  not  eat  ?  And  the  man  said,  The  woman 
whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave  me  of 
the  tree,  and  I  did  eat.  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto 
the  woman.  What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  ? 
And  the  woman  said,  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and 
I  did  eat.     And   the   Lord  said  unto  the  serpent, 


20  THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN. 

Because  thou  hast  done  this,  thou  art  cursed  above 
all  cattle,  and  above  every  beast  of  the  field.  Upon 
thy  belly  shall  thou  go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all 
the  days  of  thy  life.  And  I  will  put  evmity  between 
thee^  and  the  woman  ;  and  between  thy  seed  and  her 
seed.  It  shall  bruise  thy  head  ;  and  thou  shalt  bruise 
his  heel.  Unto  the  woman  he  said,  I  will  greatly 
multiply  thy  sorrow,  and  thy  conception  ;  in  sorrow 
shalt  thou  bring  forth  children  ;  and  thy  desire  shall 
be  to  thy  husband  ;  and  he  shall  rule  over  thee. 
And  unto  Adam  he  said,  Because  thou  hast  heark- 
ened unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of 
the  tree  of  which  I  commanded  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  not  eat  of  it:  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy 
sake.  In  sorrow  shalr>  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of 
thy  life.  Thorns  also,  and  thistles,  shall  it  bring 
forth  unto  thee.  And  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the 
field.  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread 
until  thou  return  unto  the  ground,  for  out  of  it  wast 
thou  taken.  For  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt 
thou  return."* 

I  pause  not  here  further  to  consider  the  appalling 
curse  pronounced  ;  the  withering  blight  w^hich  came 
over  man,  and  over  all  earthly  things.  These  have 
been  sufficiently  presented  in  our  discussion  of  the 
*^  covenant  of  works,"  in  the  previous  chapter.  Our 
only  object  is,  to  learn  definitely,  the  true  sense  of 
the  covenant  of  Eden,  if  I  may  so  designate  this 
transaction.  I  do  not  allege  that  it  has  been  seri- 
ously misunderstood.     There   has   in  regard   to  it, 

♦Gen.m;  8,-19. 


/^ 


THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN.  21 

been  in  every  age,  a  remarkable  unity  of  opinion. 
But  that  by  Biblical  Interpreters  generally,  it  has  not 
been  properly  estimated,  is  to  me  most  evident. 
Some  of  our  most  popular  divines  speak  of  it  as 
"  obscurely  intimating  a  Saviour ;"  others  as  '*  giving 
faint  intimations  of  the  divine  goodness  ;"  and  even 
those  who  have  attributed  to  it  the  highest  im- 
portance, have  not  felt  its  full  force  and  magnitude. 
Did  it  indeed,  but  "  obscurely  hint"  a  Saviour  ?  Did 
it  give  forth  of  him  '*  faint  intimations"  only  ?  It 
was  in  truth,  nothing  less  than  the  glorious  "dawning 
of  the  gospel"  day  upon  our  world.  So  it  was  un- 
doubtedly understood  by  the  apostles.  Paul  refers 
to  it  thus,*  "When  he  [Christ]  cometh  into  the 
world  he  saith.  Sacrifice,  and  offering,  thou  wouldest 
not,  but  a  body  hast  thou  prepared  me.  In  burnt 
offerings,  and  sacrifices  for  sin,  thou  hast  had  no 
pleasure.  Then  said  1,  Lo  1  come,  in  the  volume" — 
the  head,]  the  beginning — "  of  the  book  it  is  written 
of  me,  to  do  thy  will,  O  God."  ''  By  the  which  will 
we  are  sanctified,  through  the  off'ering  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  once  for  all.  What  does  he  mean  by 
"the  head,"  or  the  beginning  of  the  book,  the  Bible  ? 
What  other  passage  there,  but  this,  speaks  of  the 
mission,  and  work  of  Christ  ?  Nor  is  this  exposition 
peculiar  to  christians.  The  Jewish  Rabbies,  as  is 
well  known,  understood  the  covenant  in  the  same 
sense.  Speaking  of  it  the  Targum  of  Jerusalem 
says: — "There   will  be  a  remedy  for  man,  but  not 

*  Heb.  X  :  5,-10. 


22  THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN. 

for  the  serpent,  but  he  shall  wound  his  heel,  at  the 
end  of  the  days  of  the  king  Messiah."  The  Targum 
of  Jonathan,  and  numerous  other  Hebrew  authori- 
ties, say  substantially  the  same  thing.  They  assert 
that  "  The  seed  of  the  woman  is  Messiah."*  Did 
Scott  then  affirm  too  much,  when  he  said,t  "  This 
announcement  comprises  the  whole  gospel,  with  a 
prophetic  history  of  the  opposition  with  which  it 
should  meet,  and  the  success  with  which  it  should 
be  crowned,  in  all  ages,  and  countries,  until  the  end 
of  time  ?" 

But  why  has  this  covenant  failed  to  make  its  full 
impression  upon  so  many  minds  ?  It  may,  perhaps, 
be  on  account  of  the  singular  relations  in  which  it 
is  found,  and  of  the  indirect  manner  in  which  it  was 
announced.  These  circumstances  are  happily  ex- 
plained by  Andrew  Fuller.  He  says,  "  If  man  had 
been  in  a  suitable  state  of  mind,  the  promise  might 
have  been  direct,  and  addressed  to  him.  But  he 
was  in  no  such  state.  His  heart,  whatever  it  might 
have  been  afterwards,  was  yet  hardened  against 
God.  It  was  fit,  therefore,  that  whatever  designs  of 
mercy  were  entertained  concerning  him,  or  his  pos- 
terity, they  should  not  be  given  in  the  form  of  a 
promise  to  him,  but  of  a  threatening  to  Satan."J 
On  these  accounts  God  said  to  the  serpent,  and  not  to 
them,  "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee,  and  the 
woman  ;  and  between  thy  seed,  and   her  seed.     It 

*  Vide  Gill  in  loco,  et  Paulus  Fagius. 

t  Com  in  loco. 

t  Works.  Vol.  3,  p.  15. 


THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN.  23 

shall  bruise  thy  head  ;  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 
heel."  This  peculiar  relation  of  the  covenant  has 
also  another  excellency.  It  serves  to  reveal  to  us 
one  at  least,  of  the  most  precious  truths  in  the  divine 
word.  It  apprises  us  that  the  declaration  of  a  Deliv- 
erer was  made  to  man,  before  the  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced which  overwhelmed  him  with  the  conse- 
quences of  his  sins.  He  stood  before  his  Creator  a 
transgressor,  criminal,  ashamed,  but  still  stout  and 
unsubdued.  He  was  not  yet  formally  condemned. 
The  sorrow,  and  suffering,  and  death,  he  had  in- 
curred, were  withheld.  They  had  not  descended 
upon  him.  How  full  of  kindness  were  these  deal- 
ings of  God  !  The  remedy  was  thus  made  known,  that 
man  might  not  be  utterly  crushed  by  the  blow. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  the  curse  came  upon 
him. 

It  is  now  I  trust,  apparent  to  you  that  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  Deliverer  for  man  in  Eden,  was  a 
covenant,  in  the  true  gospel  sense,  and  that  it  was 
so  understood  by  all  primitive  saints,  as  well  as  by 
Christ,  and  his  apostles.  It  was  accompanied, 
also,  by  most  important  and  impressive  explana- 
tions of  the  character  and  work  of  the  Deliverer, 
in  the  forms  of  divine  worship  then  instituted. 

The  worship  of  God  has  always  demanded,  and 
ever  must  require,  as  to  its  essence^  the  homage  as 
we  have  seen,  of  the  heart.  The  forms  of  worship 
have,  however,  been  different  under  different  dis- 
pensations. That  now  instituted  consisted  mainly 
in  the  offering  of  slain  beasts  in  sacrifice.  These 
were  wholly  consumed  upon  the  altar.     The   skins 


24  THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN. 

were  reserved,  and  became  the  materials  of  which 
they  prepared  their  necessary  apparel.  That  such 
service  was  specifically  enjoined  by  Jehovah,  is 
sufficiently  evinced  by  the  subsequent  offerings  of 
Cain  and  Abel.  If  they  had  not  been  required, 
their  presentation  could  not  have  constituted  the 
worship  of  God,  since  no  truth  is  more  clear  than 
that  where  there  is  no  command  there  can  be  no 
obedience.  The  sacrifice  of  Abel,  and  those  of 
many  others  afterwards,  were  accepted  as  obe- 
cience  to  Jehovah.  They  were  therefore,  com- 
manded by  him.  That  of  Cain  was  not  accepted 
because  it  consisted  not  in  slain  animals,  but  fruits 
of  the  earth,  and  therefore  was  in  form,  and  matter, 
a  violation  of  the  divine  ordinance.  God  kindly 
instructed  personally,  our  first  parents  in  his  service; 
he  himself  primarily  officiating.  The  narrative  is 
brief,  but  peculiarly  graphic.  "Unto  Adam,  and 
unto  his  wife,  did  the  Lord  God  make  coats  of  skins, 
and  clothed  them  ;"*  coats  of  the  skins  of  those 
animals  he  had  slain  for  sacrifice.  They  could  not 
have  been  slain  for  food,  because  it  was  not  then 
lawful  for  men  to  eat  flesh.  The  appointment  of 
God  on  this  subject  immediately  after  the  fall,  is 
contained  in  a  passage  already  before  you.  He 
said  to  our  first  parents,  in  relation  to  their  subsis- 
tence, "  Thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field."f  It. 
was  not  until  after  the  flood  that  they  were  allowed 
animal  food.  God  said  to  Noah  and  his  family, 
after  they  had  left  the  ark  :    "  Every  moving  thing 

♦Gen.  iii  2  21.  t  Gren.  iii :  18. 


THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN.  25 

that  livetliy  shall  be  meet  for  you  ;  even  as  the  gree^i 
herb  [which  alone  had  before  been  eaten]  have  I 
given  you  all  things."*  Would  this  grant  now  have 
been  formally  made,  if  it  had  previously  existed  ? 
Animal  food  was  not  therefore  eaten  by  men,  pre- 
vious to  the  flood.  Consequently  the  beasts  that 
were  slain  were  as  has  been  said,  wholly  consumed 
in  sacrifice.  How  full  of  instruction  are  these  facts  ! 
I  may  say,  adopting  the  quaint  language  of  Henry  :f 
**  These  coats  of  skin  had  a  significancy.  The  beasts 
whose  skins  they  were,  must  be  slain  ;  slain  before 
their  eyes  ;  to  show  them  [our  first  parents]  what 
death  is ;"  "  that  they  may  see  themselves  as 
mortal,  and  dying."  "  They  were  slain  not  for  food, 
but  for  sacrifice,  to  typify  the  great  sacrifice  which 
in  the  latter  end  of  the  world,  should  be  oflfered  for 
all.  Thus  the  first  thing  that  died  was  a  sacrifice, 
or  Christ  in  a  figure ;"  a  representation  of  "  the 
woman's  seed,"  whose  heel  was  to  be  bruised,  or 
who  was  to  suffer  death  for  the  sins  of  men."  ^' These 
sacrifices,"  he  continues,  "  were  divided  between 
God  and  man,  in  token  of  reconciliation  ;  the  flesh 
to  be  offered  to  God,  a  whole  burnt  offering ;  the 
skins  given  to  man  for  clothing  ;  signifying  that 
Jesus  Christ  having  offered  himself  to  God  a  sacri- 
fice of  a  sweet  smelling  savor,  we  are  to  clothe 
ourselves  with  his  righteousness  as  with  a  garment, 
that  the  shame  of  our  nakedness  may  not  appear.' 
Such  were  the  explanations  given  in  the  forms  of 
worship  instituted  in  the  beginning  of  the  world,  of 

*  Gen.  ix  :  3.  t  Comm.  in  loco. 

2 


26  THE  COVENANT  OF  EDEN. 

the  character  and  work  of  the  Redeemer  promised 
in  the  covenant. 

And  is  it  true,  as  has  been  asserted,  that  all  the 
saints  previous  to  the  days  of  Abraham,  understood 
these  doctrines  as  they  have  now  been  explained  ? 
That  they  did,  cannot  be  reasonably  questioned. 
No  other  period  of  the  world  has  been  marked  by 
instances  of  more  devoted  piety  than  that  of  which 
we  now  speak.  But  piety  without  intelligence  is 
impracticable.  It  is  an  axiom  in  theology,  that 
where  there  is  no  promise,  or  other  divine  declara- 
tion, there  can  be  no  faith.  There  is  in  fact,  nothing 
to  believe.  Yet  it  is  said,  that  "  By  faith  Abel 
offered  unto  God,  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than 
Cain,  by  which  he  obtained  witness  that  he  was 
righteous,  God  testifying  of  his  gift ;  and  by  it  he 
being  dead,  yet  speaketh."  Also  that,  **  By  faith 
Enoch  was  translated,  that  he  should  not  see 
death ;  and  he  was  not  found,  because  God  had 
translated  him ;  for  before  his  translation  he  had 
this  testimony,  that  he  pleased  God."*  Similar 
statements  are  true  of  Noah,  and  many  more,  who 
lived  during  that  age.  But  what  did  they  all  be- 
lieve ?  Than  those  contained  in  this  covenant  there 
were  no  other  promises,  no  other  divine  declarations 
whatever.  Their  faith  must  therefore  have  been 
predicated  alone  upon  the  divine  declarations,  and 
promises  made  in  the  covenant  now  under  consid- 
eration. 

And  now,  what  w^ere  some  of  these  truths,  may 
we  not  say  great  gospel-truths — which   holy  men 

*  Heb,  xi ;  4,  6. 


THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN.  27 

of  primitive   times,    learned   from  the  covenant  of 
Eden,  and  upon    which    their  faith  rested  ? 

1.  It  taught  them  that  the  great  Deliverer  prom- 
ised, was  to  be,  not  an  angel,  not  any  being  of 
another  race,  but  their  brother ;  '*  the  seed  of 
the  woman."  ^  And  such  truly  was  he.  For  **Both 
he  that  sanctified,  and  they  who  are  sanctified, 
are  all  of  one,  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed 
to  call  them  brethren."  And  since  *Uhe  chil- 
dren" of  men,  '*  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood, 
he  also  himself  likewise,  took  part  of  the  same." 
**  He  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels," 
but  "  the  seed  of  Abraham,"  because  '*  in  all  things  it 
behoved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren, 
that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  High 
Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconcil- 
iation for  the  sins  of  the  people."*  And  yet  more. 
They  learned  from  it,  that  the  Messiah  promised, 
was  to  be  **  the  seed  of  the  woman"  peculiarly  ;  that 
is,  of  the  woman  only  ;  in  other  words,  as  to  his 
human  nature,  that  he  was  to  be  the  son  of  a  virgin. 
The  fulfilment  of  this  declaration  in  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, is  amply  set  forth  by  the  evangelists,  and 
especially  by  Mathew,  and  Luke,t  with  a  record  of 
the  before  so  frequently  repeated  promise  : — "  He 
shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest ;  and  the  Lord  shall  give  unto  him  the 
throne  of  his  father  David  ;  and  he  shall  reign  over 
the  house  of  Jacob  forever ;  and  of  his  kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end." 

♦  Heb.  ii :  11,-17.  •  Matt,  i :  18,-21  ;  Luke  i :  26,-33. 


28  THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN. 

2.  They  were  further  instructed  by  this  covenant, 
that  Messiah  was  to  accomplish  the  work  of  re- 
demption through  suffering.  To  Satan  Jehovah 
said,  "  Thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel."  And  in  all  parts 
of  the  word  of  God,  but  especially  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, this  great  truth  is  perpetually  kept  before 
our  eyes.  "  It  became  him,  for  whom  are  all  things, 
and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons 
unto  glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation 
perfect  through  suffering."*  And  again.  *'Thus 
it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to 
suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third 
day  ;  and  that  repentence  and  remission  of  sins 
should  be  preached  in  his  name  among  all 
nations."! 

3.  They  were  also  here  distinctly  taught  that 
Messiah,  in  his  mission  upon  earth,  would  achieve 
a  glorious  conquest  over  all  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness. And  blessed  be  God,  he  has  effectually 
''  bruised  the  head"  of  the  great  enemy.  For  this 
purpose  the  Son  of  man  was  manifested,  that  he 
might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil."  J  By  his  suf- 
ferings **  He  hath  abolished  death,  and  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel."||  And 
ultimately  being  *'  lifted  up  from  the  earth,"  he  "  will 
draw  all  men  unto  him.§  All  sin  will  at  last  be 
blotted  out,  and  Jesus  will  reign  over  the  whole 
earth. 

In  these  truths  they  had,  as  you  must  perceive, 

*  Heb.  ii :  10, 14.  t  Luke  xiv  :  46,  47. 

1 1  John  iii :  8.  ||  2  Tim.  i :  10. 

§  Jobn  xii :  82. 


THE  COVENANT  OP  EDEN.  29 

the  sum  and  essence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  They 
were  sustained,  directed  and  saved,  by  the  same 
truth,  and  the  same  grace,  that  now  animate  and 
fill  your  heart  with  peace  and  joy. 

We  have  now  seen  that  the  announcement  in 
Eden  of  a  Deliverer  for  man,  was  a  promise  of  Christ, 
and  that  this  promise  was  a  covenant  in  the  highest 
and  most  exalted  sense ;  that  the  nature  and  work 
of  Messiah  was  further  explained  in  the  forms  of 
worship  then  instituted  ;  that  the  influence  of  this 
covenant  upon  the  faith  and  piety  of  the  early 
patriarchs,  and  of  all  the  saints  up  to  the  days  of 
Abraham  was  of  the  most  elevated  character ;  and 
that  it  taught  them  that  Christ  was  to  be  their,  and 
our  brother,  that  he  was  to  be  the  son  of  a  virgin, 
that  the  work  of  redemption  was  to  be  accomplished 
by  him  through  suftering,  and  that  by  his  mission 
into  our  world  he  would  achieve  a  glorious  con- 
quest over  all  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  ultimately 
"fill  the  whole  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God,  as  the  waters  covers  the  sea."  With 
these  expositions,  I  submit  this  part  of  our  subject. 
I  am  gratified  to  find  that  in  these  views,  we  have 
the  concurrence  of  the  true  men  of  every  age ;  the 
ancient  Hebrews,  and  all  modern  evangelical  chris- 
tions.  How  rich  was  that  grace  which  led  to  the 
provision  of  this  glorious  remedy  for  sin,  and  the 
merciful  kindness  which  prompted  its  early  devel- 
opement  to  men.  I  entreat  you  to  study  it  carefully, 
and  prayerfully,  until  in  all  its  characteristics,  it  is 
fixed  in  your  heart,  and  your  soul  overflows  with 
the  gratitude  it  is  so  well  fitted  to  inspire. 


80  COVENANT  OF   REDEMPTION. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

Testimonies  of  its  existence  ;  period  of  its  formation  ;  purposes  it 
contemplated  ;  parties  to  the  covenant ;  its  promises. 

The  divine  declaration,  and  appointment  con- 
tained in  the  covenant  of  Eden,  and  v^'^hich  vi^e  con- 
sidered  in  the  last  chapter,  could  unquestionably 
never  have  been  made,  had  not  God  entertained  to- 
wards men  previous  purposes  of  mercy.  That  when 
these  purposes  were  formed,  no  sin  had  been  com- 
mitted by  them,  detracts  from  this  proposition  noth- 
ing of  its  force,  or  importance.  It  was,  we  must 
remember,  the  act  of  him  who  said,  ''  I  am  God, 
and  there  is  none  else ;  I  am  God,  there  is  none  like 
me,  declaring  the  end  from  the  beginning ;  from 
ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done, 
saying,  My  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all 
my  pleasure."*  It  was  impossible  in  the  nature  of 
things,  that  he  should  not  foresee  the  defection,  and 
fall  of  our  race.  All  the  events  which  mark  the 
history  of  the  universe,  were  necessarily  before  the 
omniscient  mind,  ere  the  existence  of  our  world. 
Jehovah  beheld  and  pitied  our  miseries,  and  moved 


COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  31 

by  infinite  grace,  he  determined  to  provide  the 
means  for  our  deliverance  and  salvation.  This  he 
was  pleased  to  do  in  the  covenant  of  redemptiony 
now  to  be  considered. 

To  the  actual  existence  of  the  covenant  of  redemp- 
tion,  called  by  most  writers  the  covenant  of  grace, 
the  word  of  God  bears,  in  every  part,  the  amplest 
testimony. 

The  character  of  a  ''  Surety,''  for  example,  given 
to  the  Saviour  in  the  divine  oracles,  necessarily  in- 
volves the  covenant,  since  the  least  that  can  be  said 
of  that  relation,  is  that  he  who  bears  it,  is  consti- 
tuted the  representative  of  others,  and  thereby 
comes  under  an  engagement  to  fulfil  certain  obliga- 
tions in  their  name,  and  for  their  benefit.*  And 
when  about  to  offer  up  his  own  life  upon  the  cross, 
he  said,  *'Lo  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God."  But 
how  could  this  fearful  sacrifice  have  been  known  to 
be  the  will  of  God,  had  he  not  previously  so  de- 
clared it?  The  prophets  abound  in  declarations 
affirmative  of  the  covenant  of  redemption.  To 
Messiah  the  Father  said,  "  I  the  Lord  have  called 
thee,"  *'  and  will  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the 
people  ;  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles ;  to  open  the 
blind  eyes  ;  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  pri- 
son ;  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  from  the  prison 
house."t  And  again,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  "  I  will 
give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people."^  But  more 
fully,  he  says  of  him  :— **  If  his  soul"— (I  follow  the 
version  of  Lowth) — *'  shall  be  a  propitiary  sacrificCi 

*  H«b.  vU ;  22.  t  Iw*  iT :  6,  7.  t  Iw-  xlix :  8,  ?. 


32  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

he  shall  prolong  their  days,  and  the  gracious  pur- 
pose of  Jehovah  shall  prosper  in  his  hands.  Of  the 
travail  of  his  soul  he  shall  see"  [^he  fruit] — ''  and 
be  satisfied.  By  the  knowledge  of  him,  shall  my 
servant  justify  many,  for  the  punishment  of  their 
iniquities  shall  he  bear.  Therefore  will  I  distribute 
to  him  the  many  for  his  portion  ;  and  the  mighty 
people  shall  he  share  for  his  spoil,  because  he  hath 
poured  out  his  soul  unto  death,  and  was  numbered 
with  the  transgressors  ;  and  he  bare  the  sins  of 
many ;  and  he  made  intercession  for  the  transgres- 
sors."* The  last  of  the  prophets,  announcing  his 
coming,  says : — "  The  Lord  whom  ye  seek,  shall 
suddenly  come  to  his  temple ;  even  the  Messenger 
of  the  covenant  whom  ye  delight  in ;  behold  he 
shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."!  From  these 
and  similar  texts  you  learn,  that  by  the  gracious 
act  of  the  Father,  Christ  the  Son  was  constituted 
the  Surety  of  his  people ;  that  when  '*  he  gave  him- 
self for  us,"  it  was  according  to  the  previously  de- 
clared will  of  God ;  and  that  he  was  called  to  this 
work  by  the  Father,  who,  for  our  redemption,  made 
his  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  Did  all  this  occur 
without  any  previous  consent  or  agreement  ?  Who 
then  can  question  the  reality  of  the  covenant  of 
redemption  ? 

That  this  covenant  came  into  being  before  the  fall 
of  man,  is  a  truth  sustained  in  the  divine  word  by 
the  clearest  evidence. 

It  is  fully  supported  by  Peter,  wlien  he  says,  ad- 

*  Isa.  Uii :  10-12.  fMal.iii:!. 


COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION.  83 

dressing  Christians  in  all  lands  : — ''  Ye  were  not  re 
deemed  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver  and  gold, 
from  your  vain  conversation  [manner  of  life]  re- 
ceived by  tradition  from  your  fathers,  but  with  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without 
blemish  and  without  spot ;  who  verily  was  fore- 
ordained before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  but 
was  manifested  in  these  last  times  for  you,  who  by 
him  do  believe  in  God,  who  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  and  gave  him  glory  ;  that  your  faith,  and  hope, 
might  be  in  God."*  Paul  bears  concurrent  testimony 
in  the  declaration  that  "  God  who  cannot  lie,  pro- 
mised us  eternal  life  before  the  world  began."t 
He  says,  "  He  hath  saved  us,  and  called  us,  with  a 
holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  ac- 
cording to  his  own  purpose,  and  grace,  given  us  in 
Christ  Jesus,  before  the  world  began."J  And  yet 
more  : — "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed^us  with  all  spiritual 
blessings,  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ,  according  as 
he  hath  chosen  us  in  him,  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy,  and  without 
blame  before  him  in  love."||  The  covenant  of  re- 
demption was,  therefore,  brought  into  being  before 
the  creation  of  the  world. 

The  purpose  of  the  covenant  is  expressed  by  its 
name  ;  it  looked  to  the  redemption  and  salvation  of 
men.  The  plan,  however,  by  which  these  results 
were  to  be  gained,  must  necessarily  be  such  as 
would,  at  the  same  time,  glorify  the  purity  and  jus- 

♦lPet.i:18.     tlTim.l:2.     t2Tim.i;9,     ||Eph.l:5-6. 
3* 


34  COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION. 

tice,  and  honor  alike,  of  all  the  persons  of  the  ado- 
rable Trinity.  Any  arrangement  which  would  fail 
of  these  ends,  it  is  impossible  he  could  have  devised 
or  approved.  Had  man  been  restored  to  happiness 
without  meeting  these  demands,  God,  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  would  have  been  dis- 
honored. It  was  the  design  of  the  covenant,  there- 
fore, to  bring  into  perfect  harmony  the  salvation  of 
men,  and  the  glory  of  God. 

The  contracting  parties  appear  distinctly  before 
your  mind.  This  part  of  our  subject,  however, 
demands  somewhat  more  of  particularity. 

It  is  plain  that  man  could  not  have  been  one  of 
these  parties,  since,  as  we  have  seen,  the  covenant 
was  made  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and 
he,  of  course,  was  not  then  in  being.  His  happiness 
was  indeed  its  object,  but  in  its  formation  he  could 
assuredly  have  had  no  active  participation.  But 
even  had  this  been  otherwise,  his  fulfilment  of  the 
necessary  terms  of  redemption  would  have  been 
impossible.  None  but  a  divine  person  could  do  this, 
who  joining  himself  to  our  nature,  could  bear  Al- 
mighty wrath,  and  "  magnify  the  law"  by  a  perfect 
obedience.  Angels  could  not,  for  the  same  reasons, 
have  been  parties  to  this  covenant.  They  excel  men 
in  the  spirituality  of  their  essence,  and  the  extent 
of  their  powers.  Still,  like  men,  their  nature  is  too 
limited.  And,  besides,  they  belong  to  another  class 
of  beings,  who  never  could,  either  by  incarnation,  or 
in  any  other  manner,  become  so  related  to  us  as  to 
accomplish  the  design  proposed.     Who  then  were 


COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION.  85 

the  parties  covenanting  ?  They  vv^ere,  I  answer,  the 
same  w^ho  in  the  beginning  said,  "  Let  us  make  man 
in  our  image,  and  after  ou7'  likeness."*  They  vv^ere 
God,  as  he  has  made  himself  known  to  us,  in  the 
exalted  persons  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Truly,  **  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord," 
and  "besides  him  there  is  no  other."  But  it  is 
equally  true  that,  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  us, 
he  has  revealed  himself  in  the  form  of  a  glorious 
Trinity,  all  the  persons  of  whom  are  "  the  same  in 
essence,  and  equal  in  divine  properties."  To  one 
of  these  sin  was  in  every  sense  as  offensive  as  to 
another.  The  honor  of  each  was  alike  engaged  to 
demand  its  rebuke  and  punishment.  The  concur- 
rence of  all  was,  therefore,  alike  necessary  to  any 
expedient  by  which  the  penalty  might  be  averted 
from  those  by  whom  sin  should  be  committed.  Nor 
was  this  concurrence  difficult,  since  the  love  which 
impelled  to  redemption,  burned  with  equal  intensity 
in  the  hearts  of  each.  The  promise  of  eternal  life 
was  indeed  made  by  the  Father,  but  it  was  not  ex- 
clusively his.  It  was  equally  expressive  of  the  good- 
ness of  both  the  other  persons  in  the  Godhead.  And 
also  the  life  promised  was,  in  its  nature,  to  be  the 
enjoyment  no  less  of  the  love  and  favor  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Spirit,  than  of  the  Father.  When,  there- 
fore, John  prayed  for  grace,  and  peace,  for  the 
churches  of  Asia,  he  supplicated  them  not  only  from 
"  Him  who  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,"  that  is,  the 
Father,  but  also  from  the   Holy   Ghost,   whom  he 

*  Gen,  i :  26, 


86  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  ma 

calls  on  account  of  the  variety  and  fullness  of  his 
gifts,  *'The  seven  Spirits  which  are  before  the 
throne  ;"  and  "  from  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  faith- 
ful witness,  the  first  begotten  from  the  dead,  and 
the  prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth."*  Each  was 
alike  interested,  since  the  covenant  was  in  its  prac- 
tical development,  to  vindicate  the  right,  and  to 
manifest  the  glory  of  all.  Redemption  was,  there- 
fore, the  result  of  the  united  wisdom,  and  grace,  of 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

One  of  the  parties  to  the  covenant  was,  therefore, 
God  the  Father. 

That  the  adorable  Jehovah  might  have  left  our 
guilty  race  to  perish  in  their  sin,  all  intelligent  be- 
ings must  acknowledge.  He  was  not  in  justice 
bound  to  interfere  in  their  behalf.  As  the  righteous 
governor  of  the  universe,  he  might  have  proceeded 
to  uphold  the  authority  of  his  law,  by  executing  its 
penalty  upon  the  disobedient,  and  thus  to  give  an 
awful  example  of  vengeance  to  the  intelligent  in- 
habitants of  the  various  provinces  of  his  empire. 
His  goodness  did  not  require  that  he  should  rescue 
his  rebellious  subjects  from  the  misery  which  they 
had  brought  upon  themselves,  because  he  had  al- 
ready given  of  this  an  ample  display  in  their  crea- 
tion and  endowments,  and  it  was  still  exhibited  in 
the  happiness  diffused  through  all  the  regions  of 
innocence.  His  glory  does  not  depend  upon  the 
manifestation  of  any  particular  attribute,  but  of 
them  all,  on  proper  occasions,  and  in  full  harmou}''. 


COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  37 

He  is  glorified  when  he  bestows  blessings  upon  the 
righteous,  and  he  is  no  less  glorified  when  he  inflicts 
punishment  upon  the    wicked.     The  event  shows 
that   his    glory  is  greater  in  the   salvation,  than  it 
would  have  been  in  the  destruction  of  men.  It  ought, 
however,  to   be   considered,   that  his  glory  means 
nothing  but  the  manifestation  of  his   character  to 
his  creatures,  and  that  as  there  was  no  necessity 
for  such  a  manifestation,  and  as  it  could  contribute 
in  no  degree  to  his  felicity,  it  was  perfectly  volun- 
tary, and  might  have  as  well  been  withheld.     The 
only  necessity  which  can  be  admitted,  is  that  if  he 
did  show  himself  to   his  creatures,  the  exhibition 
should  correspond  with  the  greatness  and  excellence 
of  his  character.     He  might  had  he  pleased,  not 
have  created  a  single  being  to  contemplate  his  per- 
fections.    When  he  did  create  them,  and  they  dis- 
honored him,  he  might  have  cast  them  off*  forever.* 
It  was  under  these  circumstances   that  "  God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."!     The  whole  arrange- 
ment was,  therefore,  of  his  own  sovereign  grace, 
uninfluenced  by  human  merit.     But  this  conclusion 
is  not  only  inferable  from  the  facts  before  you.  His 
entire  sovereignty  in  this  whole  transaction  is  ex- 
pressly  affirmed   in  his  word  : — ''  Not  by  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according 
to  his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  [purify- 
ing] of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 

«  Vide  Dick's  TheoL,  yol.  i,  pp.  A^BS,  489,        t  John  ill ;  16, 17. 


38  COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION. 

Ghost ;  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  ;  that  being  justified  by  his 
grace,  we  should  be  made  heirs,  according  to  the 
hope  of  eternal  life."* 

Another  of  the  parties  in  the  covenant  of  redemp- 
tion was  God  the  Son. 

Nor  were  his  acts  in  this  behalf,  less  sovereign 
than  those  of  the  Father.  In  all  respects  both  the 
Father  and  the  Son  were  moved  by  the  same  con- 
siderations. It  was  the  prerogative,  however,  alone 
of  the  Son,  to  assume  our  nature,  thus  becom- 
ing our  representative  head,  in  a  sense  similar  to 
thai  sustained  to  us  by  "  the  first  Adam,"  to  meet, 
and  satisfy  on  our  behalf,  all  the  claims  of  divine 
justice.  Having  assumed  this  relation  in  the  cove- 
nant, he  was  substituted  in  our  place.  His  acts, 
therefore,  had  legal  respect  to  those  whom  he  re- 
presented, and  by  the  supreme  Lawgiver  were  held 
as  a  full  equivalent  for  the  sins  of  his  people.  Hav- 
ing in  himself  the  power  to  redeem  us,  he  gladly 
undertook  this  great  work.  He  himself  says  in 
regard  to  it,  "  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God."f 
He  is  indeed  expressly  made  known  to  us  as  *'  The 
second  Adam.^'  "  The  first  man  Adam,  was  made  a 
living  soul.  The  last  Adam  was  made  a  quicken- 
ing Spirit.  Howbeit  that  was  not  first  which  was 
spiritual,  but  that  which  was  natural,  and  after- 
ward that  which  is  spiritual.  The  first  man  is  of 
the  earth,  earthy.  The  second  man  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven.     As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that 

*Titiii.6-7.  tPi.xl;7,8. 


COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION.  39 

are  earthy.  And  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they 
also  that  are  heavenly.  And  as  we  have  borne  the 
image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image 
of  the  heavenly."*  And  still  more.  ''  Not  as  the 
offence,  so  also  is  the  free  gift.  For  if  through  the 
offence  of  one  many  be  dead,  much  more  the  grace 
of  God,  and  the  gift  by  grace,  which  is  by  one  man, 
Jesus  Christ,  hath  abounded  unto  many.  And  not 
as  it  was  by  one  that  sinned,  so  is  the  gift.  For  the 
judgment  was  by  one  to  condemnation  ;  but  the  free 
gift  is  of  many  offences  unto  justification.  For  if 
by  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by  one,  much 
more  they  who  receive  abundance  of  grace,  and  of 
the  gift  of  fighteousness,  shall  reign  in  life,  by  one, 
Jesus  Christ."t  Thus  clearly  stated  is  the  repre- 
sentative character  of  Adam  and  of  Christ.  The 
result  of  their  agencies  were  different;  the  one 
being  the  cause  of  guilt,  depravity,  and  death ;  the 
other  of  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  life.  Their 
relations  to  us  are  similar,  the  federal  association 
of  Christ  being  as  clearly  stated  as  is  that  of  Adam. 
If  the  first  man  had  not  been  our  federal  head,  we 
should  not  have  suffered  by  his  transgression.  If 
the  second  man,  '*  the  Lord  from  heaven,"  had  not 
been  our  federal  head,  we  should  not  have  been 
benefited  by  his  obedience.  Our  relations  to  them 
being  alike,  Paul  says,  *'As  by  one  man's  diso- 
:  bedience  many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obe- 
;  dience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous."J  He 
\  in  a  word  became,  by  this  covenant,  our  Mediator, 

*10or.XT;i5-4».  f  Rom.  ▼:  16-17.    1:1^.1$, 


40  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

**  According  as  it  is  written,"  "  There  is  one  God, 
and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  to 
be  testified  in  due  time."^ 

The  other  party  to  the  covenant  of  redemption 
was  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Partaking  in  the  love,  and  grace,  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  he  acting  with  the  same  freedom,  en- 
gaged to  become  the  efficient  agent  by  which  men 
might  be  regenerated,  sanctified,  and  prepared  to 
receive  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of  eternal  life,  and 
thus  to  consummate  the  end  for  which  we  were 
redeemed.  A  necessity  exists  for  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  salvation,  no  less  imperative  than  for  the 
work  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son.  '^  Except  a 
man  be  born  again — born  of  the  Spirit — he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God."f 

These  are  the  covenanting  parties,  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  such,  briefly,  is 
the  part  which  each  engaged  to  perform  in  the  re- 
demption of  men. 

Let  us  now,  for  a  moment,  consider  the  promises 
embodied  in  the  covenant  of  redemption. 

Some  of  these  promises  are  made  exclusively  to 
the  Son,  as  the  Messiah  : — *'  The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord,  sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thy 
enemies  thy  footstool.  The  Lord  will  send  the  rod 
[the  people]  of  thy  strength  out  of  Zion.  Rule  thou 
in  the  midst  of  thine  enemies.  Thy  people  shall  be 
willing,   in   the   day  of  thy  power."!     And  again. 

« 1  Tim.  U :  6,  6.  f  John  iii :  3-XO.  t  ^h  ox :  1-8. 


COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  41 

**  Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen  for 
thy  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
for  thy  possession."*  And  again  "His  kingdom 
is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  his  dominion  is  from 
generation  to  generation."!  I^  view  of  these  and 
similar  declarations,  an  Apostle  says,  "  God  hath 
highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  above 
every  name ;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  on 
earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and  that  every 
tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father.J" 

Others  of  the  promises  of  the  covenant  are  given 
to  Messiah  for  his  people. 

''  To  every  one  of  us  is  given  grace  according  to 
the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ,  Therefore  he 
saith,  When  he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  led  cap- 
tivity captive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men."||  These 
gifts  are  all  comprehended  in  the  "  Hope  of  eternal 
life,  which  God  who  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the 
world  began,"§  And  to  whom  but  to  Christ,  could 
this  promise  before  the  world  began,  have  been 
made  ;  and  in  what  relation,  if  not  in  connection  with 
the  covenant  of  redemption  ?  **  In  him  was  life, 
and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men."TI  "  Neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other,  for  there  is  none  other 
name  under  heaven,  given  among  men,  whereby  we 
must  be  saved."**  John  referring  to  this  subject 
says,  *'  This  is  the  promise  that  he  hath  promised 

*  Ps.  ii :  8.      t  Daniel  iv  :  3.      %  Acts  iv :  12.      ||  Eph.  iv  :  7,  8. 
§Tit.i:2.  HJohn  i :  4.  *^*  Acts  iv :  12. 


42  COVENANT  OP  REDEMPTION. 

US,  even  eternal  life."^  Nor  are  these  and  such  like, 
as  pardon,  and  justification,  the  only  blessings  which 
come  immediately  from  him.  Jle  also  stipulates 
others  to  be  conferred  hy  the  Holy  Spirit.  "  I  will," 
said  he,  "  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write 
them  in  their  hearts ;  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God, 
and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  peop]e."t  Thus  he  secures 
your  enlightment,  your  regeneration,  and  your  sanc- 
tification,  for  which  when  an  apostle  prays,  he  pre- 
dicates his  assurance  of  an  answer,  upon  the  faith- 
fulness of  God  to  his  promise  given  in  the  cove- 
nant. "  Faithful  is  he  that  calleth  you,  who  also 
will  do  it."t 

And  how  ''  great  and  precious"  are  his  promises, 
made  through  Christ,  directly  to  his  people  !  Upon 
these,  delightful  as  would  be  their  full  contempla- 
tion, we  may  not  now  dwell.  I  ^yill  detain  you  only 
to  remark,  that  these  promises  pledge  you  grace  to 
direct  and  keep  you  in  life,  and  to  sustain  and  com- 
fort you  in  death  ;  they  assure  you  a  happy  resur- 
rection ;  justification  at  the  tribunal  of  Christ ;  and 
in  heaven  everlasting  glory. 

Thus  we  have  seen  the  actual  existence  of  the 
covenant  of  redemption ;  the  previous  period  at 
which  it  was  brought  into  being  ;  the  purposes  it 
contemplated  ;  the  parties  covenanting,  and  the  gra- 
cious promises  it  extends  to  his  people.  This  was 
the  covenant  upon  which  was  predicated  the  an- 
nouncement in  Eden  of  the  Deliverer  from  sin,  under 
the  power  and  penalty  of  which  man  had  fallen,  by 

•lJoliail:20.       t  H«)J.  viU :  8-13.       tIThmv:2i. 


COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  43 

a  violation  of  the  provisions  contained  in  the  cove- 
nant of  works.  Well  then  may  v^e,  w^ith  all  our 
heart,  join  in  that  exalted  thanksgiving  uttered  by 
the  beloved  disciple,  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  his  Father, 
unto  him  be  glory  and  dominion,  forever  and  ever. 
Amen." 


44  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    COVENANT    OF    PROMISE    IN    CHRIST    TO    ABRAHAM. 

Purpose  of  the  covenant ;  the  original  promise  ;  its  repetition  with 
an  oath  of  God  ;  renewal  and  transfer  of  the  covenant  to  Isaac  ; 
to  Jacob  ;  to  Judah  5  to  David  ;  its  identity  in  every  repetition  ; 
the  same  in  its  purposes,  and  its  promises,  with  the  covenant  in 
Eden,  and  the  covenant  of  redemption. 

The  promises  of  God  in  the  covenant  of  Eden, 
sustained  triumphantly,  the  piety  of  his  saints,  until 
the  covenant  in  Christ  was  announced  to  Abraham. 
Up  to  this  time  all  that  had  been  certainly  revealed 
as  to  the  person  of  Christ,  was  that  he  was  to  be  of 
the  human  race,  eminently  "  the  seed  of  the  woman  ;" 
but  of  what  particular  family,  or  nation,  had  not  as 
yet  transpired.  Where  men  were  to  look  for  him, 
whether  in  Egypt,  in  Babylon,  in  Assyria,  or  in 
some  other  land,  no  one  was  informed.  The  object 
of  the  covenant  now  to  be  considered,  was  not  more 
to  renew  the  former  promises  of  a  Saviour,  than  it 
was  to  make  known  his  family  and  place.  For  this 
great  honor  Abraham,  *' the  friend  of  God,"  was 
selected  ;  and  Canaan,  **  that  land  of  vine  clad  hills, 
and  blooming  vallies,"  was  designated  as  the  scene 
of  Messiah's  glorious  mission. 

Abraham's  place  was  "  Ur  of  the  Chaldees." 
There  he  received  a  divine  command  indicative  of 


WITH    ABRAHAM.  45 

some  future  purpose  of  Jehovah,  what  he  knew  not. 
'*The  God  of  glory''  appeared  to  him,  and  said, 
"Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred, 
and  go  into  the  land  which  I  shall  show  thee." 
Promptly  he  obeyed,  "and  went  out, 'not  knowing 
whither  he  went."  Providence  directed  his  steps 
to  Haran,  where  he  remained  until  he  had  per- 
formed the  last  sad  rites  of  sepulture  for  his  aged 
father.  Then  again,  "  The  Lord  said  to  Abraham, 
Depart  to  a  land  that  I  will  shew  thee,  And  I  will 
make  thee  a  great  nation.  And  I  will  bless  thee, 
and  make  thy  name  great.  And  thou  shalt  be  a 
blessing.  And  I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee, 
and  curse  him  that  curseth  thee.  And  in  thee  shall 
all  families  of  the  earth  he  blessed.^  "  In  this  simple 
narrative  we  have  the  original  promise  made  to 
Abraham,  which  Paul  calls  ''  the  covenant  of  God^ 
in  Christ,'^^  or  the  pledge  that  Messiah  should  come  of 
his  family.  This  promise  was  made  when  the  patri- 
arch was  seventy-five  years  old,  in  the  year  of  the 
world  two  thousand  and  eighty-two,  and  nineteen 
hundred  and  twenty-two  years  before  the  advent 
of  Messiah.  He  received  and  embraced  it  with 
unwavering  faith,  and  devoutly  and  promptly  com- 
plied with  the  command  with  which  it  was  asso- 
ciated. He  "  departed  as  the  Lord  had  spoken  to 
him,"  with  all  his  family  and  substance.  And  as 
Moses  instructs  us,  "  They  went  from  Haran,  to  go 
into  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  into  the  land  of  Canaan 
they  came.     And  Abram  passed  through  the  land, 

*  Gen.  xii :  1,  3. 


46  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

to  the  place  of  Sychem,  to  the  plaia  of  Moreh,'"*  a 
beautiful  valley  between  the  mountains  Ebal  and 
Gerizim,  where  he  fixed  his  residence,  and  "  builded 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,"  who  there  again  appeared 
to  him,  and  said,  "  To  thee  will  I  give  this  land."t 
Upon  these  events,  and  in  explanation  of  the  full 
import  of  the  covenant,  an  inspired  apostle  says, 
"  Now  to  Abraham  and  his  seed,  were  the  promises 
made.  He  saith  not,  and  to  seeds,  as  of  many  ;  but 
as  of  one,  and  to  thy  seed  ;  which  is  Christ."  J 

But  Abraham  had  subsequently,  assurances  on 
this  subject,  still  more  full,  and  emphatic.  More 
than  forty  years  he  had  resided,  "  as  a  pilgrim  and  a 
stranger,"  in  Canaan,  when  the  covenant  was  re- 
newed, **and  ratified  tvith  an  oath,^^  Mean  time  his 
faith  had  been  subjected  to  various  trials  of  the 
severest  character.  He  and  his  wife  had  now  both 
reached  a  very  great  age;  he  about  a  hundred  and  his 
wife  ninety  years,  and  they  were  still  without  issue.  : 
In  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  as  respects  posterity  \ 
they  were  both,  as  Paul  justly  remarks,  **as  good 
as  dead."J  The  promised  son  came  not !  How 
could  he  believe  that  he  would  come,  or  that  the 
promise  would,  or  could,  ever  be  fulfilled  ?  We  are 
assured  however,  that  **  Abraham  staggered  not." 
His  faith  was  unshaken.  **  With  God  nothing  is  im- 
possible." Isaac  at  length  was  born  !  And  under  the 
circumstances,  his  birth  was  as  truly  miraculous,  as 
was  that  of  the  Saviour  himself  All  his  cherished 
hopes  were  realized,  and   this  son    so  dear  to  his 

*  Gen.  2di :  1-3.  f  lb.  4-6  %  Heb.  xi :  12. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  47 

heart,  was  now  verging   towards  manhood,  when 
occurred  another  trial  of  his  faith^  infinitely  more 
painful  and  appalling  than  the  former.     "  Take  now 
thy  son,"   said  God  to  the  aged  patriarch,  **  thine 
only   son  Isaac,   whom   thou  lovest,  and  go  to  the 
land  of  Moriah,  and  offer  him  there  for  a  burnt  ofier- 
ing  !"     But  could  this  command  be  really  from  on 
high !     Had   he   not   in   this   case,  every  reason  to 
distrust  the  evidence  of  even  his  own  senses  ?  Could 
infinite  goodness  require  of  a  father,  a  deed  so  hor- 
rible?    Thus  Abraham  might  have  reasoned.     But 
no  such  inquiries  were  in  his  heart.     It  was  enough 
that  God  had  spoken.     Of  this  he  was  assured.     He 
therefore,  hesitated  not  to  obey,  but  hastened  to  the 
appointed  mountain ;  builded  there  the  prescribed 
altar  ;  placed  upon  it  the  necessary  wood ;    bound 
his  son,  laid  him  upon  the  pile,  grasped   the    knife, 
and   stretched  forth   his  hand   to   strike   the   fatal 
blow ;    when   his   proceeding  was    arrested    by   a 
voice   from  above  !    *'  Abraham,  lay   not  thy  hand 
upon    the    lad  ;    neither    do    thou    any    thing   to 
,  him  ;  for  now  I  know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing 
I  thou  hast  not  withheld  from  me  thy  son,  thine  only 
1  son."*      Another   glorious    victory   was    achieved. 
Faith  had  again  triumphed.     Paul  illustrating  this 
j  cardinal   grace,  thus   refers   to  the  incident  before 
I  us  : — "  By  faith  Abraham  when  he  was  tried,  offered 
'  up  Isaac ;  and  he  that  had  received   the    promises, 
offered  up  his   only  begotten  son,  of  whom  it  was 

j  *Gen.  xxii:  1,-13. 


48  COVENANT  OP  PROMISE 

said,  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called  ;  accounting 
that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up  even  from  the 
dead ;  from  whence  also  he  received  him  in  a 
figure.''*  When  these  and  other  scenes  had  passed, 
and  which  are  recorded,  that  **  we  upon  whom  the 
ends  of  the  earth  have  come,"  may  imitate  the  un- 
wavering confidence  in  the  word  of  God,  which 
characterized  ''  the  father  of  the  faithful,"  then 
Jehovah  said  to  Abraham : — ''  By  myself  have  I 
sworn,^^  "  that  blessing  I  will  bless  thee  ;  and  multi- 
plying I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of 
heaven ;  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his 
enemies.  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  earth  be 
blessed.^^-f  These  trials  of  Abraham's  faith,  and 
repetitions  in  the  strongest  forms,  to  him  of  "  the 
covenant  of  promise,"  were,  like  the  sufferings  of 
Job,  not  especially  necessary  on  his  account,  but 
were  for  our  advantage.  Therefore  said  Paul, 
**  When  God  made  promise  to  Abraham,  because  he 
could  swear  by  no  greater,  he  sware  by  himself, 
saying,  Surely  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  multi- 
plying I  will  multiply  thee."  "  Men  verily  swear 
by  the  greater,  and  an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to  f  | 
them,  an  end  of  all  strife."  So  '*  God,  willing  more 
abundantly  to  show  unto  [us  the  true]  heirs  of 
promise,  the  immutability  of  his  counsel,  confirmed 
it  with  an  oath,  that  by  two  immutable  things  [the 
promise  in  the  original  covenant,  and  the  oath  in  its 
repetition]  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to 

*  Heb.  xi :  17, 18.  f  Gen.  xxii :  15, 18. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  49 

lie,  we  might  have  strong  consolation^  who  have  fled 
for  refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the  hope  set  before  us  ; 
which  hope  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both 
sure  and  steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that 
within  the  vail,  whither  our  forerunner  is  for  us 
entered,  even  Jesus"  Christ.* 

"  The  covenant  of  promise  to  Abraham,  of  God  in 
Christ,"  is  now  before  you.  It  is  said  by  the  apostle, 
to  have  been  "  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  Abra- 
ham." "  The  scripture  foreseeing  that  God  would 
justify  the  heathen  through  faith,  preached  before 
the  gospel  unto  Abraham,  saying,  In  thee  shall  all 
nations  be  blessed."t  To  Adam  also,  was  this  cove- 
nant as  announced  in  Eden,  no  less  "  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,"  since  it  was  "the  glad  tidings"  of  a 
Deliverer  from  sin,  and  of  eternal  life,  and  salvation. 
I  will  also  remark  in  passing,  that  the  blessings 
promised  in  all  these  covenants — the  covenants  of 
redemption,  of  Eden,  and  of  Abraham — were  in 
their  spiritual  irnport,  never  designed  to  be,  nor 
are  they  truly,  confined  to  any  one  family,  or  nation. 
The  possible  impression  of  their  partial  or  Hebrew 
bearing,  is  carefully  guarded  against,  in  the  very 
language  of  the  covenants  themselves,  and  earnestly 
denied  by  both  prophets  and  apostles.  They  em- 
braced specifically,  "  all  the  families  of  the  earth," 
and  revealed  a  Saviour,  who  is  '^  a  light  to  lighten 
the  Gentiles,^^  as  well  as  ''  the  glory  of  his  people 
Israel.X     "  Of  a  truth,"  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  per- 

*  Heb.  Ti :  13-20.        f  Gal.  iii :  IG,  17.        %  Luke  ii :  32. 
3 


50  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

sons  ;  but  in  every  nation,"- — and  this  has  been  ever 
SO — "  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  righteous- 
ness, is  accepted  with  him."* 

We  now  pass  from  the  period  of  Abraham,  and 
proceed  to  consider  the  frequent  repetitions  to  his 
successors,  at  various  times,  during  more  than  eight 
hundred  years,  of  this  same  "  covenant  of  promise, 
confirmed  before  of  God  in  Christ."t 

To  Isaac,  his  son,  and  heir,  this  covenant,  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  afterwards,  was  solemnly 
renewed,  and  transferred.  In  the  narrative  of  this 
transaction  by  Moses,  you  are  informed  that  a 
famine  prevailed  in  Canaan,  and  that  to  find  sus- 
tenance for  himself,  and,  his  family,  Isaac  was 
obliged  to  leave  for  a  time,  the  place  of  his  resi- 
dence. He  went  therefore  "unto  Abimelech,  the 
king  of  the  Philistines,  unto  Gerar.  And  the  Lord 
appeared  unto  him  and  said,  Go  not  down  into 
Egypt;" — whither  it  seems,  he  was  disposed  to  direct 
his  steps; — "  Dwell  in  the  land  which  1  shall  tell  thee 
of.  Sojourn  in  this  land,  and  I  will  be  with  thee. 
For  unto  thee,  and  unto  thy  seed,  will  I  give  all 
these  countries.  And  I  will  perform  my  oath  which 
1  sware  unto  Abraham  thy  father.  And  I  will  make 
thy  seed  to  multiply  as  the  stars  of  heaven  ;  and 
will  give  unto  thy  seed  all  these  countries.  And  in 
thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  he  blessed^X 
The  identity  of  this  covenant  with  that  of  Abraham^ 
cannot  be  questioned,  since  in  the  covenant  itself, 
this  fact  is   expressly  declared  : — ''  I  will  perform 

*  Acts  X  :  34,  35.  t  GaL  iii ;  17.         %  Gen.  26  :  l*-5. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  51 

unto   thee  my  oath   which  I  sware  unto  Abraham 
thy  father." 

Fort\^-four  years  after  this  event,  the  same  cove- 
nant was  repeated,  and  transferred  to  Jacob,  the 
son  of  Isaac,  and  grandson  of  Abraham.  Jacob  had 
now  reached  the  age  of  manhood.  Painful  events 
had  occurred  in  his  father's  house.  He  was  about 
to  leave  the  scenes  of  his  early  days,  and  enter  the 
great  theatre  of  life,  preparatory  to  which  his  father 
gave  him  his  formal  blessing.  How  full  of  tender- 
ness and  affection  was  that  prayer !  "  God  Al- 
mighty bless  thee,  and  make  thee  fruitful,  and 
multiply  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  a  multitude  of 
people  ;  and  give  thee  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  to 
thee  and  to  thy  seed  with  thee ;  that  thou  mayest 
inherit  the  land  in  w^hich  thou  art  a  stranger,  which 
God  gave  to  Abraham.  And  Isaac  sent  away 
Jacob."*  And  "  Jacob  went  out  from  Beersheba 
and  went  towards  Haran.  And  he  lighted  on  a 
certain  place,  and  tarried  there  all  night,  because 
the  sun  was  set.  And  he  took  of  the  stones  of  that 
place,  and  put  them  for  his  pillows,  and  lay  down  in 
that  place  to  sleep.  And  he  dreamed  ;  and  behold 
a  ladder  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it 
reached  to  heaven  ;  and  behold  the  angels  of  God 
ascending,  and  descending  upon  it !  And  behold  the 
Lord  stood  above  it,  and  said,  I  am  the  Lord  God  of 
Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac.  The 
land  whereon  thou  liest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and 
to  thy  seed.     And  thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of 

*  Gen.  xxviii :  3-5. 


52  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

the  earth.  And  thou  shalt  spread  abroad  to  the 
west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north,  and  to  the 
south.  And  in  thee,  and  in  thy  seed,  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.^^*  Such  is  the  form 
and  language,  in  which  the  covenant  is  transferred 
to  Jacob.  This  also,  contains  within  itself,  as  did 
that  to  Isaac,  the  declaration  that  it  is  identically 
the  same  covenant  previously  given  to  Abraham. 
Jacob  is  now  assured  that  he  is  to  be  the  Father  of 
Messiah. 

The  scenes  in  the  life  of  Jacob,  were  many  and 
various,  and  not  a  few  of  them  of  the  most  touching 
character.  When  "  his  pilgrimage  upon  earth"  was 
about  to  close,  seventy  one  years  after  he  had  been 
honored  with  the  covenant,  he  assembled  in  his 
chamber,  in  Goshen,  his  twelve^sons,  and  in  an  address 
replete  with  affection,  faith,  piety  and  eloquence, 
constituted  them  into  "the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel.^'* 
Upon  each  of  the  tribes  he  pronounced  an  appro- 
priate blessing,  prophetic  of  its  future  circum- 
stances, and  character ;  he  assigned  them  all  their 
places  in  the  promised  land  ;  but  to  Judah  alone, 
and  especially,  he  transmitted  the  covenant  received 
from  his  fathers.  "The  promised  land,"  Bishop 
Newton  justly  observes,  '^  Jacob  might  divide  among 
all  his  children.  But  the  promise  of  being  the 
progenitor  of  Messiah,  must  be  confined  to  ore 
only."  That  distinction,  by  divine  direction,  was 
conferred  upon  Judah.  Thus  he  blessed  that  fa- 
vored tribe  : — ^*  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart   from 

*Gen.  xxviii:  11-14. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  53 

Judah,  nor  a  Lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  until 
Shiloh  come,  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the 
people  be."*  The  sense  of  the  covenant  in  the  form 
which  it  here  assumes,  need  not  be  mistaken,  and 
yet  it  has  been  somewhat  embarrassed,  partly 
perhaps,  because  the  authors  of  our  common  ver- 
sion of  the  scriptures  seem  not  to  have  understood 
it ;  and  partly  because  expositors  generally,  appear 
not  to  have  comprehended  its  true  relations.  A 
few  remarks  in  explanation  from  me,  is  therefore 
necessary.  I  may  just  observe  that  the  word  trans- 
lated sceptre,^  means  literally  a  rod^  and  does  not, 
as  so  many  have  imagined,  refer  here  to  the  regal 
rule  of  Judah,  but  is  used  metaphorically,  to  repre- 
sent the  tribe.  The  substance  of  this  part  of  the 
passage  is  therefore,  an  assurance  that  whatever 
may  become  of  the  other  tribes,  the  rod,  or  tribe  of 
Judah,  shall  endure  in  its  distinct,  and  separate,  and 
full  existence,  until  the  Messiah  promised — the 
Shiloh — springing  from  that  tribe,  shall  come  and 
accomplish  his  mission  upon  earth.  I  may  also  re- 
mark that  the  term  rendered  Lawgiver^X  here  means 
simply,  a  teacher,  or  prophet,  and  nothing  more. 
With  these  corrections,  the  whole  text  will  read 
truly,  and  plainly  thus  : — From  Judah  his  distinct 
existence  as  a  tribe  shall  not  depart,  nor  among  his 
offspring  shall  a  teacher  be  w^anting,  till  Messiah 
come,  and  unto  him  shall  all  people  be  gathered. 
God  here  pledges  that  he  will  himself  watch  over 
and  preserve  this  trihe^  until  "  the  desire  of  all  na- 

*  Gen.  xlix  :  10.  J^;^^^^  t  ^^TXQ  t 


54  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

tions  shall  appear."  And  how  faithfully,  in  his  good 
providence,  this  pledge  was  redeemed,  is  in  the 
subsequent  history  of  his  people,  familiar  to  all  who 
study  the  sacred  records.  The  other  tribes,  as  is 
well  known,  fell  into  the  grossest  idolatry,  from 
which  no  admonitions,  or  judgments,  could  recall 
them.  They  were  at  length  abandoned  to  the  fury 
of  their  enemies,  by  whom  they  were  overcome, 
and  carried  into  hopeless  captivity.  More  than 
seven  hundred  years  before  Shiloh  appeared,  they 
were  all  irrecoverably  lost,  among  the  nations  of  the 
east.  Judah  by  the  evident  intervention  of  almighty 
power,  was  indestructible,  until  the  promise  in  this 
covenant,  was  gloriously  accomplished. 

Six  hundred  years  had  now  passed  away  since 
the  transfer  of  the^  covenant  to  Judah.  Israel  had 
taken  possession  of  the  promised  land.  Every  foe 
was  conquered,  and  all  the  tribes,  united,  prosper- 
ous and  happy,  lived  securely  under  the  government 
of  the  ''  man  after  God's  own  heart."  Under  these 
circumstances  God  appeared  to  David,  and  ''  swore 
with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins 
according  to  the  flesh,  he  would  raise  up  Christ."^ 
The  form  of  inspired  language,  ever  after  this  re- 
newal of  the  covenants,  connects  Messiah  with  the 
throne  of  David ;  his  throne  being  plainly  a  meta- 
phor employed  to  express  with  emphasis,  Christ's 
spiritual  reign.  "  Thy  seed,^^  said  Jehovah  to  David, 
'*  will  I  establish  forever,  and  [thus]  build  up  thy 
throne  to  all  generations. t     It   was  in   allusion   to 

*  Acts  ii  :  30.  %  Psalm  Ixxxix  :  3,  4. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  55 

these  promises,  that  David  himself  said,  in  his  last 
moments,  **The  God  of  Israel  hath  made  with  me, 
an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all  things,  and 
sure."*  The  exposition  of  this  covenant  is  beauti- 
fully given  by  one  of  the  prophets.  Referring  to 
the  coming  of  Christ  he  says  : — "  In  that  day  [the 
opening  of  the  gospel]  there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse, 
w^hich  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  people  ;  to  it 
shall  the  Gentiles  seek  ;  and  his  rest  shall  be  glori- 
ous.f  Previous  to  this  transaction,  Messiah  was 
known  only  as  ^'The  seed  of  the  woman,"  who  should 
redeem  us  by. suffering  ;  the  substitute  for  man  to 
divine  justice ;  the  Deliverer  appointed  by  the 
Father  ;  the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  the  Shiloh,  in  whom 
all  the  nations  and  families  of  the  earth  should 
be  blessed.  Thenceforward  he  is  known  as  "  the 
Prince  ;"  the  "  Ruler  of  the  people  ;"  ^^the  David  ;" 
the  "  King  of  Israel ;"  and  by  one  or  another  of 
these,  or  similar  titles,  he  is  constantly  designated. 
This  is  the  style  of  Jeremiah,  for  example,  through 
whom  God  said  to  Israel : — ''  If  ye  can  break  my 
covenant  of  the  day,  and  my  covenant  of  the  night, 
and  that  there  should[not  be  day  and  night  in  their 
season,  then  may  also  my  covenant  with  David  be 
broken,  that  he  should  not  have  a  Son  [the  Christ] 
to  sit  upon  his  throne. "J  It  is  the  style  of  Daniel, 
to  whom  it  was  said  by  the  angel:  "Understand 
that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to 
restore,  and  to  build  Jerusalem,  unto  Messiah  the 
<    prince,  shall  be  seven  weeks,  and  three   score   and 

*  2  Sam  xxiii :  5.  f  Isa  xi  :  10.  J  Jere  xxsdii  :  20,  21. 


56  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

two  weeks;  [of  years] ^' and  after  three  score  and 
two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for 
himself.""^'  Take  Micah  as  another  example: — 
^*  Thou  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little 
among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall 
he  come  forth  unto  me,  that  is  to  be  Ruler  in  Israel ! 
whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  old,  from 
everlasting."! 

It  is  necessary  to  pause  here,  until  I  have  justified 
the  remark  made  a  moment  since,  that  "  the  throne 
of  David"  upon  which  Christ  is  to  sit,  is  employed  1 1 
always,  as  a  metaphor  to  represent  his  spiritual 
reign.  A  mistake  on  this  point  has  led  to  a  false 
philology  in  religion,  by  which  a  full  impression  of 
the  sense  of  the  covenant  with  David,  has  been 
turned  aside,  anrf  painfully  weakened.  It  has  been 
supposed  to  be,  not  what  it  really  is,  the  repetition 
and  transfer  to  him  of  ''  the  covenant  of  promise"  to 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  Judah,  but  another 
and  distinct  covenant,  which  they  have  been  pleased 
to  call  *'  The  Covenant  of  Royalty  /"  And  what  do 
they  mean  by  "the  covenant  of  royalty  ?"  If  simply 
that  David  had  the  promise  of  God,  that  Messiah 
who  will  reign  over  spiritual  Israel  forever,  should 
come  of  his  family,  and  consummate  the  covenant, 
then  they  but  perplex  the  subject  by  new,  and  unex- 
plained terms,  without  any  corresponding  advan- 
tage. But  if  they  mean,  as  I  understand  them,  that 
this  covenant  guarantied  to  David  the  occupancy  of 
his  throne,  by  one  of  his  own  descendants,  until  the 
coming  of  Messiah,  and  that  Christ  at  his  second 

^  Dana  ix  :  25,  26.  t  Micb.  v  :  2, 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  57 

coming,  or  at  some  other  period,  would  occupy  it 
literally,  their  interpretation  is  contradicted  by  the 
facts  in  history,  and  by  the  explanations  of  both 
Christ  himself,  and  of  his  apostles. 

The  facts  in  history  contradict  this  interpretation. 
David  transmitted  the  kingdom  of  Israel  to  Solomon, 
and  Solomon  to  Rehoboam.     This  last  king,  byhe 
haughtiness  of  his  bearing,  and  the  cruelty   of  his 
measures,  forfeited  the  attachment   of  his   people. 
Ten  of  the  tribes  revolted  under  Jeroboam,  became 
completely  dissevered  from  their  brethren,  and  v^ere 
never   afterwards    recovered    to    the   government. 
Here  the  reign  of  the  family  of  David  over  all  Israel, 
actually,  and  forever  ceased.     Indeed,  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  it  continued  at  most,  but  three  f;enera- 
tio7is,  or  about  one  century.     Over  Judah  alone,  his 
descendants  continued  to  reign  for  several  centuries 
more.     At  length  however  Nebuchadnezzar  invaded 
and  conquered    the    nation,   destroyed    Jerusalem, 
burned  the  temple,  carried  the  people  into  captivity, 
and  desolated  the  whole  land.   With  this  overthrow, 
which  occurred  five  hundred  and  eighty  nine  years 
before  the  coming  of  Christ,  ended  finally,  the  reign 
even  over  Judah  itself,  of  the  family  of  David.     His 
literal  throne  existed  no  more.     It  is  true  that  after 
the  Babylonish  captivity,  which  continued  seventy 
years,  a  remnant  of  the  people  returned,  and  Judah 
was  ruled   a    hundred  and  twenty  eight  years,  by 
Zerubbabel,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah.  The  first  of  these 
was  of  the  house  of  David,  but  both  the  others,  were 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi,     None  of  them  however,  were 
kings  in  any  sense,  but  simply  governors  under  for- 
*3 


58  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

eign  authority.  During  the  two  hundred  and  forty 
two  years  next  succeeding,  Judah  was  governed  by 
her  High  Priests,  all  of  whom  were  of  the  house  of 
Aaron.  Mean  time  the  nation  was  tributary  suc- 
cessively, to  the  Persians,  the  Greeks,  the  Egyptians, 
and  the  Syrians.  From  the  close  of  this  period  until 
Judea  became  a  Roman  province  under  Herod,  and 
Christ  was  born,  the  Jews  were  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Asmonean  family,  known  as  the 
Maccabees,  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  priestly 
tribe.  History  thus  rebukes  the  interpretation  in 
question.  Does  the  covenant  promise  David,  that  his 
natural  sons  should  reign  upon  his  literal  throne, 
until  the  coming  of  Messiah  ?  If  so,  then  it  was  not 
fulfilled.  But  ''God's  word  cannot  be  broken."  It 
was  fulfilled.  Therefore  the  promise  is  to  be  under- 
stood not  in  a  ]itera1  sense,  but  as  a  metaphor. 

The  other  part  of  the  interpretation — that  Christ 
ever  will  occupy  David's  literal  throne — will  be 
found  upon  examination,  to  fail  in  a  manner  equally 
signal.  Recur  if  you  please,  to  the  exposition  of 
this  covenant  by  Peter,  in  a  passage,  a  part  of 
which  is  already  before  you.  He  said  to  the  Jews, 
in  his  sermon  at  Pentecost,  "The  patriarch  David," 
was  "  a  prophet,"  and  he  knew  "  that  God  had 
sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his 
loins  according  to  the  flesh,  he  would  raise  up  Christ 
to  sit  on  his  throne."^  Did  he  mean  however,  his 
literal  throne  ?  that  at  his  second  coming  at  least, 
Christ  will  reign  in  Jerusalem,  or  elsewhere,  not 

*  Acts  ii  :  29,  30. 


WITH  ABRAHAM.  59 

only  over  gathered,  and  restored,  Israel,  and  Judah, 
but  over  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ?  Then  he 
directly  contradicts  the  Saviour  himself,  since  at 
that  time,  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  will  certainly  be 
"  of  this  world."  But  repeatedly,  as  you  well  know, 
does  the  Saviour  declare  the  contrary.  He  affirms^ 
and  without  conditions,  or  limitations,  "  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world."*  It  is  not  of  this  world  in  its 
origin  ;  it  is  not  of  this  world  in  its  nature  ;  it  is  not 
of  this  world  in  its  ends.  It  indeed,  extends  to  every 
creature,  since  **all  authority  is  committed  into  his 
hands,  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth,"  but  it  is  exclu- 
sively spiritual,  and  evangelical.  He  was  ''  David's 
son,  and  David's  Lord  ;"  the  spiritual  David  himself; 
the  king  who  shall  reign  over  spiritual  Israel  forever. 
It  was  therefore  over  no  literal  empire  ;  no  nations 
of  men ;  that  he  was  to  reign.  The  covenant 
promised  no  such  dominion.  Twenty  four  hundred 
years  has  David's  literal  throne  been  buried.  It 
will  never  be  resuscitated.  The  promise  is  figura- 
tive, and  pledges  a  spiritual  dominion,  and  a  spiritual 
people.  With  these  facts  before  us,  how  glorious 
is  the  inspired  language  on  this  subject  of  the  inim- 
itable Ethan  !  "  Thou,"  O  Lord,  "  didst  speak  in 
vision,  to  thy  Holy  One,  and  say,  I  have  laid  help 
upon  one  that  is  mighty."  "  I  have  found  David 
my  servant ;  with  my  holy  oil  have  I  annointed 
him;  [made  him  Christ]  with  whom  my  hand  shall 
be  established  ;  my  arm  also  shall  strengthen  him." 

"'John  xviii  :    37. 


60  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

"  And  I  will  beat  down  his  foes  before  his  face  ;  and 
afflict  them  that  hate  him  ;  but  my  faithfulness,  and 
my  mercy  shall  be  with  him."  "  I  will  set  his  hand 
also  in  the  sea,  and  his  right  hand  in  the  rivers.  He 
shall  cry  to  me,  Thou  art  my  father,  my  God,  and 
the  rock  of  my  salvation.  Also  I  will  make  him  my 
first  born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth.  My 
mercy  will  I  keep  for  him  forever  more,  and  my 
covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  him.  His  seed  also, 
will  I  make  to  endure  forever,  and  his  throne^^  [his 
spiritual  government!  "  as  the  days  of  heaven.  If  his 
children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judg- 
ments ;  if  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my 
commandments  ;  then  [will  I  not  cast  them  off,  as  I 
did  the  literal  sons  of  David,  whom  I  rejected  for 
their  sins,  but]  I  will  visit  their  transgressions  with 
the  rod,  and  their  iniquities  with  stripes.  Neverthe- 
less my  loving  kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from 
him,  nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail.  My  covenant 
will  I  not  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  hath  gone 
out  of  my  lips.  Once  have  I  sworn  by  my  holiness, 
that  I  will  not  lie  to  David  [the  exalted  Messiah.] 
His  seed  shall  endure  forever,  and  his  throne  as  the 
sun  before  me.  It  shall  be  established  forever,  as 
the  moon ;  and  as  a  faithful  witness  in  heaven."*" 
Daniel  uses  language  in  the  same  sense,  when  he 
says,  '* There  was  given  unto"  ''the  Son  of  Man; 
Messiah;"  ''dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom, 
that  all  people,  and  nations,  and  languages  should 

^Ps.  Ixxxix:  19-37. 


WITH  ABRAHAM. 


6l 


serve  him.  His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  domin- 
ion, which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed."* 

We  have  now  seen  what  is  usually  called  ''  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,"  or  more  properly,  ''  the  cove- 
nant confirmed  to  Abraham,  of  God  in  Christ,"  and 
we  have  considered  the  repetition,  and  transmission 
of  that  covenant,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  and  to 
Judah,  and  to  David.  Its  promises  are,  as  is  appa- 
rent, identical  in  their  spiritual  import,  with  those 
developed  in  the  covenants  by  which  it  was  pre- 
ceded. Indeed  it  refers  to  those  covenants  in 
direct  terms.  Was  it,  as  Paul  declares,  a  ''  covenant 
confirmed  to  Abraham,  of  God  in  Christ  ?"  That 
which  was  simply  confirmed,  must  have  had  a  pre- 
vious existence.  And  where  shall  we  look  for  this 
covenant,  at  any  previous  time,  but  to  Eden,  in 
which  two  thousand  years  before,  it  was  made 
known  to  our  first  parents  ?  And  in  all  its  devel- 
opements,  whether  in  Eden,  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac, 
to  Jacob,  to  Judah,  or  to  David,  it  rested  firmly, 
upon  the  gracious  engagement  of  Christ  for  us,  in 
the  glorious  covenant  of  redemption,  '*  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world." 

The  uncertainty  which  had  until  now,  marked  the 
nation  of  which  Messiah  should  come,  and  the  scene 
of  his  achievements,  was  here  dissipated.  The 
family  of  Abraham  is  designated,  and  of  that  family 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  the 
house  of  David.  Each  successive  developement  nar- 

*  DanL  vii  :  14. 


62  COVENANT  OF  PROMISE 

rows  down  the  circle,  and  makes  the  investigation 
of  Christ's  claims  to  the  divine  mission,  when  he 
shall  come,  more  simple  and  certain.  Yet  many 
centuries  are  to  pass  before  his  advent.  Other 
measures  must  therefore  be  adopted,  such  as  that 
on  his  appearing,  it  shall  be  known  beyond  the 
possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  he  is  the  very  Christ 
promised  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  to  Jacob,  to  Judah, 
and  to  David.  Of  these  measures,  what  are  to  be 
the  nature  and  character  ? 


COVENANTS  OP  THE  LAW.  63 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

Design  of  these  covenants  ;  covenant  of  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  of 
circumcision  ;  of  Sinai ;  history  of  the  Hebrews  ;  prophecy. 

The  covenant  considered  in  the  last  chapter,  de- 
termined, as  we  saw,  that  the  Saviour  provided  in 
the  covenant  of  redemption,  and  announced  to  our 
first  parents  in  Eden,  should  be  of  "  the  seed  of 
Abraham ;"  and  that  the  scene  of  his  actions  upon 
earth,  should  be  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  But  when 
is  he  to  appear  among  men  ?  Many  a  century  is 
yet  to  pass  ere  his  actual  advent.  By  what  means, 
it  has  been  asked,  shall  it,  when  he  does  come,  be 
known  with  positive  certainty,  that  he  is  the  very 
Christ  promised  ?  Indubitable  testimony  for  the 
establishment  of  his  claims  must  surround  him. 
Otherwise  how  can  men  believe  in  the  Son  of  God  ? 
Faith  is  a  primary  condition  of  salvation.  This  is 
true  of  all  classes  ;  of  the  Jews  no  less  emphati- 
cally than  of  the  Gentiles.  Nor  in  all  that  pertains 
to  sanctification  and  eternal  life,  is  he  less  the  Christ 
of  the  one,  than  of  the  other.  Upon  the  Hebrews 
Jehovah  conferred  peculiar  honor.  To  their  cus- 
tody was  committed  "  the  oracles  of  God  ;"  theirs 
''  were  the  Fathers  ;  and  of  them,  as  concerning  the 


64  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

flesh,  Christ  came."*  In  all  other  respects  however, 
they  possessed  no  special  advantages.  In  Messiah 
"  all  the  families  of  the  earth"  were  to  be  blessed. 
Therefore  *^  all  the  families  of  the  earth"  were 
equally,  and  alike  interested  in  whatever  measures 
might  be  found  necessary  to  elicit,  and  confirm  their 
faith  in  Christ.  To  gain  this  end,  the  plan  adopted 
by  Jehovah  was  perfect,  and  is  presented  to  us 
mainly  in  the  tlu^ee  collateral  covenants  now  to  be 
considered,  and  which  we  have  called  "  The  cove- 
nants of  the  law^'^  together  V\^ith  the  history  of  Israel, 
and  the  predictions  of  the  prophets.  Of  them  truly 
may  we  say,  as  John  did  of  his  Gospel,  "  These 
[things]  are  written,  that  ye  might  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  be- 
lieving ye  might  have  life  through  his  name."t  Let 
us  refer  to  tjbem  separately  and  consecutively. 

The  first  of  these  collateral  covenants,  in  time, 
if  not  in  importance,  gave  to  Abraham  a  specified 
country,  and  made  his  family  a  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate nation. 

"  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Abram,"  while 
he  dwelt  in  Mamre,  "  saying :  Fear  not  Abram,  I 
am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward." 
And  God  /'  brought  Abraham  forth  abroad,  and 
said  :  Look  nov/  towards  heaven,  and  tell  the  stars, 
if  thou  be  able  to  number  them.  And  he  said  unto 
him  :  So  shall  thy  seed  be.  And  he  believed  the  Lord, 
and  it  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness.  And 
he  said  unto  him,  I  am  the  Lord  that  brought  thee 

*  Rom.  iii :  1 ;  ix :  6,  \  John  xx  :  31. 


COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW.  65 

out  of  Ur,  of  the  Chaldees,  to  give  thee  this  land  to 
inherit.  And  Abram  said,  Lord  God,  whereby  shall 
I  know  that  I  shall  inherit  it?  And  God  said  unto 
him  :  Take  me  a  heifer  of  three  years  old,  and  a 
she  goat  of  three  years  old,  and  a  ram  of  three 
years  old,  and  a  turtle  dove,  and  a  young  pigeon. 
And  he  took  unto  him  all  these,  and  divided  them  in 
the  midst,  and  laid  each  piece  one  against  another  ; 
but  the  birds  he  divided  not.  And  when  the  fowls 
came  down  upon  the  carcasses,  Abram  drove  them 
away.  And  when  the  sun  was  going  down,  a  deep 
sleep  fell  upon  Abram  ;  and  lo,  a  horror  of  great 
darkness  fell  upon  him  !  And  God  said  unto  Abram, 
know  surely  that  thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a 
land  that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  serve  them,"  of  that 
land,  "  and  they  shall  afflict  them,  four  hundred 
years  !  And  also  that  nation  whom  they  shall  serve, 
will  I  judge.  And  afterwards  shall  they  come  out 
with  great  substance."  And  *^they  shall  come 
hither  again."  "  And  it  came  to  pass  when  the  sun 
went  down,  and  it  was  dark,  behold  a  smoking  fur- 
nace, and  a  burning  lamp,  that  passed  between  the 
pieces.  In  the  same  day  the  Lord  made  a  covenant 
with  Abram,  saying :  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this 
land,  from  the  river  of  Egypt,  unto  the  great  river, 
the  river  Euphrates."^ 

Promises  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  had  frequently 
before  been  made.  They  were  indeed  (so  impor- 
tant w^as  the  separate  national  existence  of  Israel 
to  the  end  proposed,  regarded,)  included  in  the  pre- 

♦  Gfeu.  xv:  1-18. 


66  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

vious  "  covenant  of  God  in  Christ,"  and  also,  as  we 
shall  see,  in  the  subsequent  covenant  of  circum- 
cision. But  here  we  have  the  distinct  and  formal 
covenant  itself,  pledging  the  land  to  Abram,  and  his 
posterity  forever.  The  reasons  of  this  importance 
you  must  yourself  perceive,  upon  a  moment's  re- 
flection. A  Saviour  is  promised.  He  is  to  spring 
from  this  family.  ''In  the  fullness  of  the  time"  he 
will  come.  But  nearly  two  thousand  years  are  yet 
to  ^transpire  before  he  appears.  Meanwhile  what 
changes  may  not  occur  among  men,  and  even 
among  nations  !  What  family  mingling  as  is  com- 
mon with  other  families,  could  hope  so  long  to  sur- 
vive, and  preserve  its  distinct  character  ?  Are  there 
any  families  now  upon  earth,  who  have  so  main- 
tained themselves,  and  can  confidently  trace  back 
their  lineage  for  twenty  centuries  ?  Such  a  result 
may,  without  divine  interposition,  be  in  the  ordina- 
ry course  of  things,  safely  pronounced  impossible. 
Yet  this  much,  at  least,  the  family  of  Abraham  must 
be  able  to  do,  since  upon  it  is,  to  a  great  extent  sus- 
pended, the  faith  of  all  nations.  Without  it,  how  can 
the  true  Messiah  he  certainly  recognized  ?  How 
can  false  Christs  be  detected  and  exposed  ?  Of  his 
claims,  when  he  comes,  it  will  not  be  conclusive  that 
he  shall  manifest  extraordinary  wisdom.  This  did 
Solomon.  It  will  not  be  enough  that  he  shall  perform 
miracles,  since  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  the  same. 
Will  he  heal  the  sick,  and  even  raise  the  dead  ? 
Elisha  did  both.  It  must  be  known  beyond  doubt, 
that  he  is  precisely  of  the  descent  promised ;  other- 
wise the  proofs  are  forever  vitally  defective.    He 


COVENANTS  OF  THK  LAW.  67 

must  be  the  son  of  Abraham,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
and  of  the  house  of  David.  No  obscurity  must  rest 
upon  these  facts.  On  these  accounts  (and  they  are 
infinitely  wise,  and  benevolent)  this  covenant  was 
inaugurated.  The  family  of  Abraham  was  sepa- 
rated from  all  others,  and  made  a  distinct  nation. 
A  specified  territory  was  prescribed,  where  they 
were  to  remain  under  the  divine  government,  and 
protection.  In  that  land  they  were  to  reside,  a  pe- 
culiar, and  an  isolated  people,  until  Christ  should 
come,  and  establish  his  claims,  and,  by  one  offering 
perfect  forever  all  them  that  are  sanctified.'"^ 

The  second  of  these  collateral  covenants  was 
also  made  with  Abraham,  and  is  known  as  *^  the 
covenant  of  circumcision." 

It  looked,  unquestionably,  to  the  same  end  with 
the  covenant  which  promised  to  him  the  land  of 
Canaan.  They  were  auxiliaries  of  each  other.  Their 
design  was  to  certify  the  fulfilment  of  "the  promise 
of  God  in  Christ  to  Abraham."  That  covenant 
separated  Israel  as  a  nation,  from  every  other  peo- 
ple. This  distinguished  them  as  individuals^  from 
all  other  men.  Thus  they  were  more  perfectly  iso- 
lated, and  the  certainty  of  the  proofs,  by  which 
Messiah's  claims  were  to  be  established,  augmented 
and  simplified.  The  covenant  of  circumcision  was 
made  with  Abraham  when  he  was  ninety-nine  years 
old ;  eighteen  years  after  the  covenant  of  the  land, 
and  twenty-four  years  after  ''  the  covenant  of  pro- 
mise in  Christ."    Its  synopsis  is  as  follows  : — "  I  will 

*Heb,  x:  U. 


COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 


establish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and 
thy  seed  after  thee,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  to 
be  a  God  unto  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee.  And 
I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee,  the 
land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of 
Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession,  and  I  will  be 
their  God.  And  God  saith  unto  Abraham  :  Thou 
shalt  keep  my  covenant  therefore,  thou  and  thy  seed 
after  thee,  in  their  generations.  This  is  my  cove- 
nant which  ye  shall  keep  between  me  and  you,  and 
thy  seed  after  thee ;  every  man  child  among  you 
shall  be  circumcised."  "  And  my  covenant  shall  be 
in  your  flesh,  for  an  everlasting  covenant."  *'  And 
the  uncircumcised  man  child  shall  be  cut  off  from 
his  people."^ 

This  covenant,  which  as  we  said,  also  includes 
the  grant  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  enjoins  the  wor- 
ship and  service  of  God  only  ;f  it  commands  cir- 
cumcision ;  and  it  excludes  from  that  family  every 
one  who  shall  be  found  uncircumcised.  Its  general 
bearing  in  relation  to  all  the  Hebrew  institutions, 
is  explained  by  Paul,  who  says  : — "  I  testify  again, 
to  every  man  that  is  circumcised,  that  he  is  a  debtor 
to  do  the  whole  law.^^X  This  rite  was  at  once  received 
by  Abraham  ;  was  administered  in  his  family ;  and 
was  ever  afterwards  observed  by  his  descendants, 
until  the  object  which  it  proposed,  had  been  effectu- 
ally secured.     Christ  came  ;  its  design  was  accom- 

*  Gen.  xvii :  4-14. 

t  In  reference,  doulbtless,  to  now  prevalent  idolatry. 

t  Gal.  V  :  3. 


COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW.  69 

plished  ;  the  covenant,  as  all  the  others  of  like  tem- 
porary character,  ceased  to  exist.  The  gospel  now 
reigns,  under  which  ''  He  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one 
outwardly;  neither  is  that  circumcision  which  is 
outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Jew  who  is  one 
inwardly,  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in 
the  spirit  and  not  in  the  letter,  whose  praise  is  not 
of  men,  but  of  God.'"^  "  If  ye  be  circumcised,"  said 
Paul  to  the  primitive  Christians,  "  Christ  shall  pro- 
fit you  nothing."  For  "  whosoever  of  you  shall"  seek 
'*  to  be  justified  by  the  law"  of  Moses,  to  which  cir- 
cumcision pledges  your  obedience,  to  you  "  Christ 
has  become  of  no  effect."  We  understand  better 
the  plan  of  salvation.  "  Through  the  Spirit,"  we 
''  wait  for  the  hope  of  righteousness  by  faith,"  in 
Christ,  for  the  confirmation  of  which  faith,  circum- 
cision was  instituted.  "  Jesus  Christ"  having  now 
come,  ''  and  redeemed  us  by  his  blood,"  *'  neither  cir- 
cumcision availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision, 
but  faith  which  worketh  by  love."|  It  is  ours  to 
consider  the  facts  in  proof  of  the  Messiahship,  laid 
before  us,  in  the  practical  operation  of  this  covenant, 
and  to  ''  believe  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  third  and  last  of  these  collateral  covenants, 
is  known  as  the  covenant  of  Sinai. 

This  covenant  gave  to  the  people  of  Israel  their 
peculiar  national  government.  It  was  made  not  with 
Abraham,  but  appropriately  ^'  with  the  fathers,  when 
God  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the 

*Rom.  ii:28,  29.  t  Gal.  v  :  1-6. 


70  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

land  of  Egypt."    During   several  generations,  th^' 
family   of  Abraham   was  far   from  being  prolific. 
Bat  irrespective  of  this  fact,  many  years  must  ne-J, 
cessarily  pass  before  they  could  be  sufficiently  nu-" 
merous,  or  otherwise  in  a  condition,  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the   promised  land.     In  the    providence  oftj 
God,  they  were  removed  into  Egypt.     For  a  season 
they  were  honored  for  the  sake  of  Joseph.  Ere  long, 
however,  jealousies  arose  ;  they  were  oppressed,  and 
soon    after  enslaved ;   and    all    those    events  were 
literally  realized,  which  were  revealed  to  Abraham, 
in  the  covenant  of  the  land    of  Canaan.     His  seed 
were  strangers  in  a  land  that  was  not  theirs  ;  they 
served  the  people   of  that  land;  and  they  affiictedlj 
them  four  hundred  years.     Why  did   God — the  in- 
quiry naturally   arises — permit  his  people  to  be  so 
long,  thus- overwhelmed  with  misery,  and  suflfering? 
Two  infinitely  wise,  and  benevolent  reasons  at  once 
present  themselves  to  the  mind.     Their  social  posi- 
tion as  slaves  in  Egypt,was  immeasurably  important, 
since  they  were  thus  preserved  ;  and  thus  only  could 
they  have  been  preserved  eff'ectually  ;  from  so  inter- 
mingling with  the  people  of  the  land,  or  becoming 
so  attached  to  the  soil,  or  so  scattering  apart  from 
each  other,  as  to  frustrate  the  purposes  of  God  in 
making  them  a  nation.     When,  therefore,  the  com- 
mand came  for  their  removal,  they  were  ready  to 
depart.     This  was  the  first  reason.     The  second  had 
respect  to  their  multiplication.    To  a  rapid  increase! 
of  numbers,  servile  relations,  and  habits,  all  obser- 
vation and  experience  prove,  are,  of  all  others,  the 


II 


ii 


COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW.  71 

most  favorable.  Their  oppression  was,  therefore, 
essential  to  their  prosperity,  their  deliverance,  and 
the  fulfilment  of"  the  covenant  of  promise  in  Christ." 
The  time  came  when  they  were  to  go  forth  from 
**  the  house  of  bondage,"  and  "  become  a  great  na- 
tion." Their  numbers  had  increased  until  now  be- 
sides their  old  men,  and  women,  and  children,  they 
counted  six  hundred  thousand  warriors  !  They  were 
therefore,  ready,  and  with  the  blessing  of  God  fully 
able,  whatever  obstacles  might  oppose  them,  to  take 
possession  of  the  promised  land.  At  the  divine  com- 
mand, under  the  guidance  of  Moses,  and  amidst  mi- 
racles, wonders,  and  manifest  exhibitions  of  the 
power,  and  direction  of  God,  they  quitted  Egypt, 
and  took  their  way  towards  Canaan.  As  they  passed 
through  the  wilderness  of  Arabia,  they  received 
this  covenant,  which  organized  them  as  a  nation, 
"  at  the  holy  Mount."  In  synopsis  it  was  written 
upon  *'  two  tables  of  stone,"  which  Paul  calls,  **  The 
tables  of  the  covenant;"*  but  in  its  enlarged  form, 
and  with  its  various  rites,  and  ordinances,  it  extends 
through  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Deuteronomy.  God 
said,  speaking  from  Sinai,  to  all  the  people,  "  If  ye 
will  obey  my  voice  indeed,  and  keep  my  covenant, 
then  shall  ye  be  a  peculiar  people  unto  me,  above 
all  people."  And  the  people  answered:  *' All  that 
the  Lord  hath  spoken,  we  will  do y]  This  covenant 
is  more  especially  called  "  The  law ;"  not  so  much 
because  of  any  peculiar  moral  principles  it  promul- 
gates, since  these,  as  we  have  seen,  are  the  same 

*  Heb.^ix  :  4.  t  Ex.  xix  :  b-S. 


72  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

with  those  of  every  other  covenant,  and  must  ne- 
cessarily pervade  all  God's  dispensations,  being  the 
inevitable  emanations  of  his  own  holy  nature,  as 
because  it  constituted  the  national  government,  which 
was  at  the  same  time  the  religion  of  the  Hebrew 
people. 

You  cannot  but  observe  in  this  covenant,  the  same 
obvious  purpose  which  characterized  both  the  oth- 
ers, to  keep  Israel  separate  from  all  other  nations, 
until  the  coming  of  Christ.  This  object  was  guarded 
by  numerous  and  most  stringent  enactments.  For 
example :  "  Thou  shalt  not,"  was  the  language  of 
one  of  the  laws,  "  make  marriages  with  them.  Thy 
daughter  shalt  thou  not  give  unto  his  son,  nor  his 
daughter  shalt  thou  take  unto  thy  son."*  All 
their  social,  as  well  as  their  domestic  intercourse, 
was  so  regulated  that  an  Israelite  might  not,  in  any 
sense,  be  connected  as  an  equal,  with  a  Gentile,  of 
whatever  class.  On  this  subject  Peter  said,  addres- 
sing his  Christian  brethren,  "  Ye  know  that  it  is  an 
unlawful  thing,  for  a  man  that  is  a  Jew  to  keep 
company  with,  or  come  unto  one  of  another  na- 
tion."f  In  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  a  violation 
of  this  covenant — for  as  yet  the  Christians  seemed 
not  to  understand  that  in  the  coming  of  Christ  its 
purposes  were  consummated,  and  that  it  had  passed 
away — this  apostle  preached  the  gospel  in  the  house 
of  Cornelius,  the  Roman  Centurion.  The  disciples 
instantly,  upon  learning  this  fact,  upbraided  and 
contended  with  him,  saying  :  "  Thou  wentest  in  to 
men  uncircumcised,  and  didst  eat  with  them."f  The 
»  Deut.  vii :  3.  f 'Acts  x :  28.  X  Acts  xi ;  2,  3. 


COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW.  73 

fundamental  laws  of  Israel  made  all  uncircumcised 
people  **  unclean"  to  them.  They  were  not  per- 
mitted to  be  socially  in  the  same  house  with  Gen- 
tiles, to  be  companions  of  such,  nor  even  to  eat  at 
the  same  table  with  them.  All  such  intercourse 
was  a  religious  pollution,  and  a  moral  degradation. 
Thus  did  the  covenant  of  Sinai  concur  with  the 
other  two,  in  keeping  Israel  apart  from  all  other 
nations,  until  *'the  covenant  of  promise  in  Christ," 
to  Abraham  should  be  fulfilled. 

We  have  now  examined  *'  the  covenants  of  the 
law,"  and  seen  their  nature,  and  especially  the 
grand  purpose  of  them  all.  I  have  said  that  this 
purpose  was  still  further  aided,  by  the  inspired  his- 
tory contained  in  the  word  of  God. 

This  history  is  for  the  most  part,  recorded  in  the 
books  of  Moses,  and  Joshua,  the  Judges,  and  Ruth, 
Samuel,  and  the  Kings,  the  Chronicles,  and  Ezra, 
Nehemiah,  and  the  Prophets.  Often  in  its  perusal, 
have  you  perhaps,  earnestly  desired  more  of  detail. 
But  detail  would  have  rendered  the  Bible  inconve- 
niently voluminous,  and  was  besides  unnecessary 
to  the  purpose  contemplated,  which  demanded  so 
much  only,  as  that  when  Messiah  should  come,  the 
means  of  establishing  his  claims  should  be  perfect. 
That  part  of  inspired  history,  however,  which  is 
most  important  to  this  end,  is  contained  in  the  gene- 
alogies with  which  the  whole  Bible  so  much  abounds. 
These  genealogies  had  previously  been  scrupulously 
observed,  but  they  were  subsequently  enjoined,  and 
regulated  by  the  law  of  Moses,  which  is  identical 
with  the  covenant  of  Sinai.  A  learned'  Jewish 
4 


74  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

Rabbi,  of  the  last  age,  who  afterwards  became  a 
christian,  and  a  minister,  writing  of  the  testimony 
for  the  Messiahship  of  Christ,*  drawn  from  the  ge- 
nealogies, remarks  : — "  I  cannot  proceed  without 
observing,  and  admiring  the  wonderful  provision 
which  was  made  for  this  purpose,  in  the  law  of 
Moses.  Our  nation  [Israel]  was  not  only  divided 
into  several  tribes,  but  each  tribe  into  several  fami- 
lies. And  as  every  tribe  had  a  distinct  inheritance, 
which  obliged  them  to  keep  genealogies  of  their 
several  families,  so  to  make  them  more  exact, 
and  punctual  in  this  record,  no  alteration  of  inheri- 
tance was  allowed,  for  longer  than  the  year  of  Ju- 
bilee, which  returned  every  fifty  years.  And  then 
every  one  that  could  clear  his  pedigree,  and  make 
out  his  right  to  the  inheritance  of  his  ancestors,  was 
to  be  reinstated  in  the  possession  of  it.  This  made 
it  every  one's  interest  to  preserve  his  genealogy. 
But  what  still  further  contributed  to  this  end,  and 
made  them  the  more  careful  in  the  matter,  was  the 
law  of  lineal  retreats.  By  this  law,  upon  failure  of 
an  heir  in  any  family,  the  next  of  kin  was  to  be 
heir  at  law.  Thus  was  every  tribe  incited  not  only 
to  take  care  of  its  own  genealogy,  but  of  that  also 
of  the  several  families  of  its  kindred,  that  by  know- 
ing the  several  degrees  of  proximity  of  their  blood, 
they  might  be  able  at  any  time,  upon  failure  of  an 
heir,  to  make  out  their  title  to  the  inheritance  of 
their  fathers.  This  was  the  method  to  be  taken 
throughout  their  generations,  so  that  when  the  full- 
ness of  the  time  should  come  for  Messiah  to  appear, 
he  might  by  this  means  easily,  and  certainly,  prove 


COVENANTS   OF   THE  LAW.  75 

his  lineal  descent,  I'rom  the  seed  of  Abraham,  from 
the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  from  the  family  of  David."* 
How  often  do  thoughtless  readers  of  the  Bible,  look 
upon  these  catalogues  as  useless  impediments,  if 
not  positive  defects.  At  most,  they  inspire  them 
with  no  special  interest.  In  the  light  of  these  facts, 
however,  you  perceive  that  they  are  really  chains 
of  pearls,  and  to  every  christian  of  priceless  worth. 
They  are,  therefore,  recorded  at  great  length,  in 
both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament,  and  their 
freedom  from  error  is  vouched  by  their  inspiration. 
As  evincive  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  they  are 
introduced  into  two  of  the  gospels.  Their  testi- 
mony is  direct  and  most  conclusive.  And  it  is  also 
worthy  of  remark,  that  Matthew  who  writes  for  the 
Jews,  extends  his  catalogue  back  only,  as  far  as 
Abraham,  the  father  of  Israel,  to  whom  the  second 
promise  of  MeSvSiah  was  made  ;  but  that  Luke,  who 
writes  for  the  Gentiles,  carries  his  to  Adam,  the 
primeval  father  of  mankind,  to  whom  was  given  the 
original  pledge  of  a  Deliverer  from  sin.  Such  was 
the  design  of  the  history,  and  the  genealogies,  con- 
tained in  the  divine  oracles.  They  were  auxiliaries 
to  ''  the  covenants  of  the  law,"  to  identify  and  desig- 
nate the  Saviour  of  men. 

One  other  form  of  testimony  previously  provided, 
demands  in  this  connection,  a  moment  of  our  atten- 
tion. The  Redeemer  himself  refers  to  it  when  he 
says,  "  All  things  must  be  fulfilled,  which  were  writ- 
ten in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and 

*  Frey's  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  pp.  239,  240. 


76  COVENANTS  OF  THE  LAW. 

in  the  Psalms,  concerning  me."*  These  together, 
embrace  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  it  is 
in  every  part  full  of  Christ.  I  may  not  here,  descend 
to  particulars.  Well  do  you  know  how  minutely 
the  Law  of  Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms, 
describe  the  person,  and  work  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  his  miracles,  his  teaching-,  his  persecutions, 
his  betrayal,  his  sufferings,  his  death,  his  burial,  his 
resurrection,  his  ascension,  and  his  glorious  inter- 
cession at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  on  high  ; 
not  "'  one  jot,  nor  one  tittle"  of  which  has  failed  ; 
all  has  been  fulfilled.  They  have  received  their 
accomplishment  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour. 

Is  it  a  question  of  infinite  importance  to  the  faith 
of  all  nations,  by   what  means   Messiah  when  he 
comes,  shall  be  known   with  positive  certainty,  to 
be  the  very  Christ  promised  in  the  covenant  with 
Abraham,  with  Isaac,  with  Jacob,  with  Judah,  and 
with  David?     We  have  now  seen  how  those  means 
were  provided, by  divine  wisdom,  and  goodness.  The 
result  proposed  was  perfectly  secured  by  the  opera- 
tion of  '*the  covenants  of  the  law  ;"  which  are  the 
covenant  that  gave  to  Israel  a  prescribed  territory, 
and  made  them  a  separate  nation ;  the  covenant  of  . 
circumcision,  by  which  they  were  distinguished  per- 
sonally, from  all  other  men ;  and  the  covenant  of  | 
Sinai,  which  gave   them  a  national   government ;    V 
and  by  the  auxiliaries  of  these  covenants,  which    f 
are   the  history,    and   genealogy  of  the  people  of 
God ;  and  the  delineations  of  Christ,  in  the  Law  of 

*  Luke  xxiv  :  44r. 


COVENANTS  or  THr   LAW.  77 

Moses,  ill  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms.  The 
forms,  ordinances,  and  rites  enjoined  in  these  cove- 
nants, were  obligatory  upon  the  Hebrews  only. 
Moral  principles,  I  have  said,  wxre  the  same  in  every 
dispensation  of  God.  In  all  these  covenants  they 
were  identical  with  each  other,  and  with  those  of 
the  law  under  which  man  was  originally  created, 
and  to  bring  us  back  to  which,  is  the  great  design 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Truth,  justice,  and  purity,  are 
of  eternal  obligation,  and  have  ever  been,  and  must 
ever  be,  binding  alike  upon  all  men.  Not  so  the 
cerevionies  of  the  covenants,  which  gave  outward 
character  to  the  religion  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  ex- 
cept in  so  far  as  sacrifices,  and  the  Sabbath  were  in- 
volved, which  were  enjoined  in  Eden,  and  belonged 
to  mankind.  The  forms,  ordinances,  and  rites  peculiar 
to  Israel,  belonged  alone  to  Israel,  and  their  observ- 
ance by  Gentiles  was  not  obedience  to  God,  because 
they  were  not  commanded  by  God.  Gentiles  were, 
we  have  seen,  as  much  interested  in  the  certification 
of  Messiah  as  was  Israel ;  but  he  was  to  spring  not 
from  them,  but  from  Israel ;  therefore,  until  his 
appearing,  Israel  must  be  distinguished  from  all 
other  men.  "  The  fullness  of  the  time"  at  length 
came,  and  Messiah  appeared.  By  all  these,  and 
many  other  "  infallible  proofs,"  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
demonstrated  his  claims  to  be  received  as  "The 
seed  of  the  woman  ;"  "  the  Son  of  Abraham ;"  the 
promised  "  Shiloh  ;"  ''  the  offspring  of  David  ;"  "  the 
King  of  Israel,"  **  Immanuel,  God  with  us."  He  is 
the  Messiah. 


78  VHlhOl.OGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

Meaning  of  their  terms ;    authorities ;    illustrations,    expositions 

as  to   the  seed  of  Abraham ;    the   conversion    of    the    nations 

to  Christ ;  perpetual  possession  of  Canaan  ;  perpetuity  of  David^s 
throne. 

"  Whatsoever  things  v^ere  w^ritten  aforetime, 
were  written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through 
patience,  and  comfort  of  the  scriptures,  might  have 
hope."*  But  how  can  we  have  such  patience,  com- 
fort and  hope,  unless  we  correctly  understand  and 
properly  appreciate  the  scriptures  ?  This  remark  is 
especially  applicable  in  relation  to  the  covenants 
now  under  consideration.  Let  us  therefore  look 
somewhat  more  carefully  into  the  import  of  the  lan- 
guage in  which  they  are  expressed.  To  these  cove-  > 
nants  all  competent  Biblical  interpreters,  of  every  # 
class,  agree  in  attributing  a  peculiar  philology.  Their  i 
promises  were,  in  one  sense,  undoubtedly  intended  to 
be  literally  understood,  and  fulfilled.  But  their  true 
legitimate  import  does  not  terminate  here.  No  one 
who  studies  them,  can  fail  to  perceive  that  they 
convey  a  second  and  higher  meaning,  full  of  the 

*        *  Rom.  XV  :    4. 


PHILOLOGY   OF  THE  COVENANTS,  79 

deepest  interest  and  importance.  Examine  the 
covenants  themselves,  and  you  will  be  struck  with  a 
phraseology  inconsistent  with  the  expectation  of 
only  a  simple  literal  fulfilment.  Study  their  various 
expositions  by  the  prophets,  and  apostles,  and  you 
will  at  once  learn  that  they  received  and  interpreted 
them,  as  containing  also  a  second  and  higher  sense ; 
a  sense  which  indeed,  pervades  the  substance  of  the 
whole  kingdom  of  grace  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  higher 
meaning  of  the  covenants,  it  is  our  present  purpose  to 
establish,  and  ascertain,  that  by  their  teachings  our 
faith  may  be  invigorated  and  our  hopes  confirmed. 
Let  us  in  the  prosecution  of  this  design,  re- 
fer, in  the  first  place,  to  the  teachings  on  this 
subject,  of  some  of  our  most  learned  and  mature 
divines.  I  might  adduce  readily,  in  support  of  the 
doctrine  now  announced,  the  testimony  of  many  of 
the  brightest  names  in  the  constellation  of  theolo- 
gical science.  I  shall  however,  satisfy  myself  with 
the  evidence  of  two  only,  since  "  In  the  mouth  of 
two  witnesses  every  word  shall  be  established." 
*'  That  the  covenant  with  Abraham,"  says  Dr. 
Carson,  "  has  a  letter  and  a  spirit,  is  not  a  theory 
formed  to  serve  a  purpose.  It  is  consonant  to  every 
part  of  the  Old  Dispensation,  and  is  the  only  sense 
that  can  harmonize  it  with  the  New  Testament. 
The  temple  was  the  house  of  God,  in  the  letter ; 
believers  are  so  in  the  spirit.  To  call  any  house 
the  house  of  God,  is  as  much  below  the  sense  which 
the  same  phrase  has  when  it  is  applied  to  the 
church  of  Christ,  as  to  call  the  nation  of  Israel  the 
people  of  God,  is  below  the  sense  which  that  phrase 


80  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS.^ 

has  when  applied  to  the  spiritual  Israel.  Besides, 
there  are  many  things  spoken  about  the  house  of  I 
God  in  the  letter,  in  terms  that  can  only  fully  suit 
the  spirit.  "  I  have  surely,"  said  Solomon,  "  built 
thee  an  house  to  dwell  in,  a  settled  place  for  thee 
to  abide  forever."*  The  incongruity  of  supposing 
him,  whom  ^  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain,^ 
to  dwell  in  a  house  forever^  as  a  settled  habitation, 
is  removed  only  by  referring  it  to  the  spirit." 
"  Christ's  body  is  the  only  temple  of  which  this  is 
fully  true.  God  did  not  dwell  in  the  temple  built  by 
Solomon  forever."  That  temple  ceased  to  exist 
twenty  five  centuries  ago.  /'But  in  the  spirit  it  is 
accomplished,  in  its  utmost  extent."!  ^^  another 
place,  the  same  distinguished  writer  observes: — 
**  For  the  accomplishment  of  the  grand  purpose  that 
all  nations  should  be  blessed  in  Abraham,  he  had 
three  promises.  First,  a  numerous  posterity  ;  which 
w^as  fulfilled  in  the  letter,  to  the  nation  of  Israel.  It 
was  fulfilled  in  the  spirit,  by  the  divine  constitution 
that  makes  all  believers  the  children  of  Abraham." 
**  The  second  was,  that  he  would  be  a  God  to  him, 
and  his  seed;  which  wa!%  fulfilled  in  the  letter,  by 
his  protection  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  his  delivering  them 
from  bondage,"  and  his  subsequent  dealings  with 
that  nation.  "  This  promise  is  fulfilled  in  the  spirit, 
by  God's  being  a  God  to  all  believers,  and  to  them 
alone,  in  a  higher  sense  than  he  ever  was  to  Israel" 
as  a  nation. J     ''The  third  promise  was  of  the  land 

*  1  Kings  viii :   11.  f  On  Baptism,  N.  Y  ed.   1832.   p.  550. 

X  Rom.  iv  :    11,  12, 


i 


PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS.  81 

of  Canaan  ;  fulfilled  in  the  letter  to  Israel ;  and  in 
the  spirit  fulfilled  to  the  true  Israel,  In  the  heavenly 
inheritance,"  the  possession  of  the  Canaan  above. 
"  In  accordance  w^ith  this  double  sense  of  the  cove- 
nant," "the  typical  ordinances,  which  exhibit  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  in  a  figure,  form  one  of  the  most 
conclusive  evidences  of  Christianity,  and  present  spir- 
itual things  to  the  mind,  in  so  definite  and  striking  a 
manner,  that  they  add  the  greatest  lustre  to  the 
doctrines  of  grace."* 

Dr.  Macknight  on  this  subject,  is  equally  full  and 
explicit.  He  says  : — To  understand  the  covenants  in 
the  whole  of  their  meaning,  it  should  be  recollected 
that  *'  in  the  early  ages,  the  most  approved  method 
of  communicating,  and  preserving  knowledge,  was 
by  making  sensible  objects  which  were  present, 
or  not  very  distant  in  point  of  time,  representations 
of  things  which  are  not  the  objects  of  sense,  or  which 
are  future,  but  have  some  affinity  to  the  things  made 
use  of  to  represent  them.  In  this  method  of  instruc- 
tion, the  character  and  actions  of  remarkable  per- 
sons, and  the  ordinary  events  of  life,  were  on  some 
occasions,  considered  prefigurations  of  more  distant 
persons  and  events,  to  which  they  had  a  resem- 
blance. Of  these  facts  we  have  in  scripture  numer- 
ous examples.  Abraham,  in  respect  of  the  faith, 
and  obedience  which  he  exercised,  was  a  type  of 
believers,  of  all  nations."  On  this  account  he  was 
declared  *'the  father  of  all  them  that  believe." 
*^ David,  in  his  office,  and  kingdom,  prefigured  Christ, 

*  Bapt.  ut  eupra.  p.  344, 


82  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

for  which  reason,  by  the  latter  prophets,  Christ  is 
called  David."  And  further.  "  In  scripture  some 
future  events  are  foretold  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
show,  that  they  are  themselves  prefigurations,  or 
predictions  of  other  future  events,  still  more  remote. 
In  such  cases,  when  the  first  events  came  to  pass,  in 
the  manner  foretold,  they  were  both  a  proof,  and  a 
pledge,  that  the  more  remote  events,  would  take 
place  in  their  season."  According  to  these  and 
kindred  principles,  are  the  covenants,  and  especially 
the  covenants  of  the  law,  to  be  interpreted.  ''  From 
what  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  have  said  of  them, 
it  appears  that  these  covenants,  besides  their  first 
meaning,  which  terminated  in  the  literal  persons 
and  events  spoken  of,  had  a  second  and  higher  mean- 
ing, which  was  to  be  accomplished  in  persons  and 
events  more  remote.  Abraham's  natural  descen- 
dants, were  considered  in  the  covenants,  as  types  of 
his  seed  by  faith."  All  his  natural  seed  were  neces- 
sarily circumcised  ;  and  so  to  make  them  such,  all 
his  spiritual  seed  must  necessarily  be  regenerated 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Isaac's  supernatural  birth,  by 
the  pow^erof  God,  represented  Christ's  supernatural 
birth  by  the  power  of  God.  The  land  of  Canaan 
promised  to  the  natural  seed  as  their  inheritance, 
was  an  emblem  of  the  heavenly  Canaan,  the  inher- 
itance of  the  seed  by  faith.  In  short,  the  temporal 
blessings  promised  in  the  covenants  to  the  natural 
seed,  had  all  an  allegorical,  or  second  meaning,  being 
images  of  those  better  things  which  God  intended  to 
bestow  upon  Abraham's  seed  by  faith."*"  Such  then, 
*  Prelim  to  Gall.  Essay  V,  abridged. 


PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS.  83 

is  the  true,  and  admitted  philology  of  the  covenants. 
Their  language  has  "  a  letter  and  a  spirit."  They 
were  fulfilled  literally;  but  only  perfectly  ful- 
filled  in   their    higher  and  spiritual  meaning. 

And  novi^,  in  the  second  place,  we  apply  ourselves 
to  ascertain  this  meaning,  in  several  particulars  ; 
and  since  throughout  we  have  the  guidance  of 
the  prophets  and  apostles,  v/e  may  confidently 
rely  upon  being  directed  to  the  true  scriptural 
conclusions. 

One  of  the  promises  to  Abraham  in  these  cove- 
nants, was  that  his  seed  should  be  a  countless  multi- 
tude,  ''  I  will  make  thy  seed  as  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  so  that  if  a  man  can  number  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  then  shall  thy  seed  also  be  numbered  ;"  "  Look 
now  towards  heaven  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be 
able  to  number  them  ;  and  he  said  unto  him,  So 
shalt  thy  seed  be  ;"  "  In  multiplying  I  will  multiply 
thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the  sand 
which  is  upon  the  sea  shore."*  Was  this  promise, 
I  ask,  fully  accomplished  in  the  numbers  of  Abra- 
ham's literal  descendants  ?  Their  numbers  were  in- 
deed, very  great ;  but  were  they  as  multitudinous  as 
from  the  language  of  the  covenants  you  might  be  led 
to  suppose  they  would  be  ?  You  cannot  but  doubt. 
Your  embarrassment  however,  is  instantly  relieved 
when  you  recollect  that  God  counts  for  his  seed,  those 
who  partake  of  the  qualities  of  Abraham^s  mind,  as 
well  as  those  who  are  related  to  him  hy  fleshly 
descent,  and  that  these  promises  were  to  be  fulfilled 

*  Gen.  xiii :  16,  15  :  5,  22  :  17. 


84  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 


1 


not  alone  in  their  literal,  but  more  especially  in 
their  second  and  higher  import,  which  embraces 
both  classes.  **  They  are  not,"  said  Paul,  in  con- 
firmation of  this  doctrine,  "  all  Israel  who  are  of 
Israel,  neither  because  they  are  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham are  they  all  children."  "  The  children  of  the 
flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God."  "  The 
children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for  the  seed."* 
''And  if  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's 
seed,  and  hejrs  according  to  the  promise"  in  the 
covenants.f  Our  Lord  expresses  the  sense  of  this 
spiritual  relationship,  when  he  says  to  the  Jews, 
''  If  ye  were  Abraham's  children,  ye  would  do  the 
works  of  Abraham. "J  That  the  promises  in  the 
covenalits  looked  to  evangelical  blessings,  and  em- 
braced in  their  higher  import,  Gentiles  as  well  as 
Jews,  Paul  avers  in  another  place,  when  he  says  : — 
*•  It  is  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by  grace,  to  the 
end  that  the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all  the  seed  ; 
not  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  [Jewish]  but  that 
also  [the  Gentile  ]  which  is  of  the  faith  of  Abra- 
ham."|l  The  covenants  contemplated  therefore,  not 
his  natural  seed  only,  but  also  all  of  every  age  and 
country,  who  were,  or  ever  would  be,  believers  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

This  understanding,  of  the  promises  before  us, 
evidently,  as  is  shown  by  their  teaching,  was  re- 
ceived and  acted  upon  by  the  prophets,  no  less 
firmly  than   by   the  apostles.     They  predicted  the 

"  Rom.  ix  :  8.  f  Gal.  Hi :  29. 

i  John  viii :  39.  ||  Rom.  iv  :  6. 


PHILOJ.OGY   OF  THE  COVENANTS.  85 

great  multiplication  of  Abraham's  spiritual  seed, 
under  the  figure  of  a  great  increase  in  his  natural 
progeny.  "  Sing,  O  heavens,"  said  Isaiah,  "  and  be 
joyful,  O  earth ;  and  break  forth  into  singing,  O  ye 
mountains  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  comforted  his  people 
and  will  have  mercy  upon  his  afflicted."  "  Lift  up 
thine  eyes  round  about,  and  behold  !  All  these 
gather  themselves  together,  and  come  to  thee  !" 
'*  Thy  waste  and  desolate  places,  and  the  land  pf 
thy  destruction,  shall  even  now,  be  too  narrow,  by 
reason  of  the  inhabitants."  "  The  children  thou 
shalt  have  after  thou  hast  lost  the  other,  shall  say 
again  in  thine  ears,  The  place  is  too  strait  for  me. 
Give  place  to  me  that  I  may  dwell.  Then  shalt 
thou  say  in  thine  heart,"  ^'  These,  where  had  they 
been  ?  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold  I  will  lift 
up  mine  hand  to  the  Gentiles,  and  set  up  my 
standard  to  the  people ;  and  they  shall  bring  thy 
sons  in  their  arms,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be  car- 
ried upon  their  shoulders  ;  and  kings  shall  be  thy 
nursing  fathers,  and  their  queens  thy  nursing  moth- 
ers ;  and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."* 
Again.  "  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let 
them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  their  habitations  ; 
spare  not,  lengthen  thy  cords,  and  strengthen  thy 
stakes  ;  for  thou  shalt  break  forth  on  the  right 
hand,  and  ctn  the  left ;  and  thy  seed  shall  inherit 
the  Gentiles,  and  make  the  desolate  cities  to  be 
inhabited. "t     And  again.     '*The  dimness  shall  not 

*  Isa  xlix  :  13-23.  t  Isa  6i  :  1,-3 


86  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

be  such  as  was  in  her  vexation,  when  at  the  first, 
he  lightly  afflicted  the  land  of  Zebulun,  and  the 
land  of  Naphtali,  and  afterwards  did  more  griev- 
ously afflict  her  by  the  way  of  the  sea,  beyond 
Jordan,  Galilee  of  the  nations.  The  people  that 
walked  in  darkness,  have  seen  a  great  light.  They 
that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon 
them  hath  the  light  shined."  "  For  unto  us  a  child 
is  horn,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  ;  and  the  government 
shall  be  upon  his  shoulder ;  and  his  name  shall  be 
called  Wonderful ;  Counsellor  ;  the  Mighty  God  ; 
the  Everlasting  Father ;  the  Prince  of  Peace."* 
In  these  and  like  terms  do  the  prophets  represent 
the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  to  Christ,  their  adop- 
tion to  augment  the  number  of  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
and  thus  to  accomplish  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise 
in  the  covenants.  No  longer  now,  do  you  hesitate. 
You  feel  assured  that  the  divine  word  is  fully 
justified.  And  that  the  saved  in  Christ  of  all  ages, 
the  seed  of  Abraham  in  the  higher  sense,  is  really 
innumerable,  John  the  apostle,  bears  most  pleasing 
testimony.  In  anticipation,  he  beheld  the  redeemed, 
when  their  numbers  were  complete,  and  exclaimed, 
**  Lo,  a  great  multitude  which  tio  man  could  number, 
of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and 
tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and  before  the 
Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their 
hands,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Salva- 
tion  to  our  God,  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and 

*  Isa  ix  :    1-6. 


PHILOLOGY   OF  THE  C0VENATN8.  87 

unto  the  Lamb,"  forever  and  ever."*  Thus  we  see 
perfectly  fulfilled,  one  of  the  promises  of  the  cove- 
nants with  Abraham. 

Another  of  these  promises  guarantees  to  Abra- 
ham and  Israel  the  perpetual  possession  of  the  land 
of  Canaan  : — "  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land  ;" 
**  I  am  the  Lord  that  brought  thee  out  of  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  to  give  thee  this  land  to  inherit  it ;"  "I 
will  give  to  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee,  the 
land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of 
Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession. "f 

But  how  could  Abraham  and  his  seed  possess 
forever,  literally,  the  land  of  Canaan?  In  the  sense 
intended,  God  assuredly  gave  them  the  land.  Per- 
sonally however,  Abraham  did  not  himself  possess 
it ;  nor  did  his  descendants,  until  after  nearlj^  five 
hundred  years.  At  last  they  received  it,  and  God 
protected  them  in  its  enjoyment  for  many  ages. 
But  did  these  events  complete  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  before  us  ?  Israel  inherited  Canaan  for  a 
season ;  they  were  then  driven  thence ;  many  cen- 
turies have  since  passed,  and  they  are  to  this  day, 
wanderers  among  all  nations.  The  promise  is  not 
literally  fulfilled  in  all  its  extent,  nor  indeed  can  it, 
in  the  nature  of  things  possibly  be,  in  the  present 
world  ;  since  to  possess  an  earthly  inheritance  for- 
.  ever,  men  must  live  forever  upon  earth,  and  the 
things  of  this  life  must  have  no  end.  The  promise 
evidently  contemplated  not  alone  a  Canaan  upon 
earth,  but  more  especially  a  Canaan  in  heaven,  an 

♦Rev.  vii  :  9-12.  fGen.  xii  .•  7  ;    16  :    1-18  ;  IT  :   8. 


88  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

immortal  spiritual  life.  The  former  he  gave  to 
Abraham's  natural  seed  ;  the  latter  he  bestows  upon 
his  seed  by  faith  ;  all  those  who  believe  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And  so  Abraham  and  all  the  early 
saints  understood,  and  received  these  promises  of 
the  covenant.  They  took  them  not  alone  in  their 
literal  import,  but  also  in  their  higher  spiritual 
signification.  Of  this  fact  the  apostles  give  direct 
testimony.  "  By  faith,"  said  Paul,  "Abraham,  when 
he  was  called  to  go  out  into  a  place  which  he 
should  after  receive  as  an  inheritance  obeyed,  and 
went  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  By  faith 
he  sojourned  in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  strange 
country,  dwelling  in  tabernacles,  with  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  the  heirs  with  him  of  the  same  promise.  For 
he  looked  for  a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God."  "  These  all  died  in  faith, 
not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen 
them  afar  off;  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and 
embraced  them ;  and  confessed  that  they  were 
strangers,  and  pilgrims  in  the  earth.  For  they  that 
say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a 
country.  And  truly,  if  they  had  been  mindful  of 
that  country  from  whence  they  came  out,  they 
might  have  had  opportunity  to  have  returned.  But 
now  they  desire  a  better^  that  is  a  heavenly  country.''''^ 
Their  faith  w^as  directed  therefore,  not  exclusively  ' 
to  the  earthly  country,  but  also,  and  more  especiallj'^ 
to  the  *'  heavenly  country,"  of  which  the  earthly  was 
but  an  emblem,  and  which  clearly,  they  understood 

*  Heb.  xi  :   8^16. 


PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS.  89 

to  be  included  in  the  promises  of  the  covenants. 
The  latter,  and  not  the  former,  vi^as  to  be,  to  all 
who  had  the  faith  of  Abraham,  "-'an  everlasting 
possessions^ 

But  when,  and  how,  were  the  promises^  according 
to  this  meanings  to  be  fulfilled  ?  Not  certainly,  in 
this  life,  x\ov  fully  until  after  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  since  previous  to  that  event  their  realization 
was  evidently  impossible. 

But  were  the  promises  in  the  covenants  understood, 
in  the  sense  now  suggested,  by  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  and  David,  and  the  other  saints  of  literal 
Israel  ?  Was  this  one  meaning  at  least,  in  which  they 
embraced,  and  believed  them  ?  With  reference  to 
these  inquiries  our  Lord  himself,  reasoning  with  the 
Sadducees,  who  denied  the  existence  of  separate  spi- 
rits, and  also  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  amply  in- 
structs us.  He  said,  '*  Now  that  the  dead  are  raised, 
even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush,  when  he  called  the 
Lord,  The  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob  ;  for  he  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living."*  The  souls  of  these  patri- 
archs were  therefore,  still  living,  though  their  bodies 
were  dead ;  and  the  promises  in  the  covenants 
taught  them  that  their  bodies  would  be  raised  from 
the  dead,  since  in  their  higher  spiritual  import,  they 
secured  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  the  land  of  Canaan 
forever.  If  they  were  not  to  be  raised  from  the 
dead  to  this  end,  how  could  the  promises  ever  be 
fulfilled  ?     And   what    was   true  of  them,  in  these 

*  Luke  XX  :    '61. 


90  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 


m-  f 


respects,  was  true  of  all  others  in  similar  circum 
stances.  And  further.  That  the  Canaan  in  which 
they  were  to  dwell  after  the  resurrection,  was  to  be 
not  on  earth,  but  in  heaven,  is  plain  from  the  pre- 
ceding part  of  this  same  conversation  of  our  Re- 
deemer. He  expressly  calls  the  promised  country, 
'' that  world,'^^  in  contrast  with  the  literal  conntry, 
which  he  calls  "  this  world :'''' — "  The  children  of  this 
world  [literal  CanaanJ  marry,  and  are  given  in 
marriage.  But  they  who  shall  be  accounted  wor- 
thy to  obtain  that  world  [spiritual  Canaan]  and  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead  [to  prepare  them  for  it] 
neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  Neither 
can  they  die  any  more>  for  they  are  equal  to  the 
angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  chil- 
dren of  the  resurrection.'"^  That  the  covenants 
therefore,  in  their  higher  meaning,  taught  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  and  the  glorious  realities  of 
heaven,  no  one  can  question,  since  such  was  their 
construction  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself. 
And  still  further.  Because  they  did  not  understand 
the  covenants  in  this  sense,  Messiah  directly  charges 
the  Sadducees  with  culpable  ignorance  ; — ''  Ye  do 
err,"  said  he,  "not  knowing  the  scriptures,  nor 
the  power  of  God."f  Paul  also  gives  us  an  exposi- 
tion of  these  covenants,  and  in  exact  consonance  with 
that  which  we  have  just  seen,  from  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  In  his  defence  before  King  Agrippa,  he 
hesitated  not  to  say,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
Jewish  chiefs : — "  1  stand,  and  am  judged,  for   the 

*  Luke  XX  :  34-36.  f  Ut  sup. 


I 


PHILOLOGY   OF  THE  COVENANTS.  91 

hope  of  the  promise  made  unto  our  fathers,  unto 
which  promise  our  twelve  tribes,  instantly  serving 
God,  day  and  night,  hope  to  come."  But  to  what 
promise  made  to  the  fathers,  and  which  when  Paul 
spoke,  remained  to  the  twelve  tribes  unfulfilled,^  did 
they  hope  to  come  ?  Paul  himself  thus  explains  : — 
'"  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with 
you  [King  Agrippa]  that  God  should  raise  the 
dead  /"  And  in  another  place,  when  before  Felix, 
he  said  : — ''I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the  way 
that  they  [the  unbelieving  JewsJ  call  heresy,  so 
worship  I  the  God  of  my  fathers,  believing  all  things 
that  are  written  in  the  law,  and  in  the  prophets, 
and  have  hope  towards  God,  which  they  themselves 
also  allow,  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust."f  But  where  is 
the  promise  to  the  fathers,  of  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,  written  in  the  Law  of  Moses  ?  It  is  w^ritten 
no  where,  unless  it  be  in  these  covenants,  nor  even 
here,  except  in  the  sense  in  which  they  have  now 
been  explained.  God  will  raise  up  from  the  dead, 
all  the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham,  and  give  them  for 
an  everlasting  possession,  that  Canaan  above,  of 
which  the  Canaan  on  earth  was  the  appointed 
emblem. 

The  children  spiritually,  of  Abraham,  are  found 
alike,  among  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  to  them 
all,  are  made  the  promises  of  the  covenants  ;  not  to 
them  and  to  their  seed,  as  they  were  to  Abraham;  but 
to  them  as  the  seed  of  Abraham ;  nor  to  them  liter- 

*  Acts  XXV  :  6-8.  t  Acts  xxiv  :  14,  15. 


D2  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 


1 


ally,  as  to  his  natural  descendants ;  but  to  them 
spiritually  in  their  second,  and  higher  meaning.  The 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  gave  to  all  the  lovers  of 
Christ,  unbounded  joy.  The  Jews  have  long  re- 
sisted the  grace  of  God,  but  the  fulness  of  the  time 
will  ultimately  come,  and  they  too  shall  be  con- 
verted. This  great  event  is  predicted  by  the  proph- 
ets, under  the  figure  of  the  restoration  of  Israel  from 
a  long  captivity,  to  the  scenes  of  their  own  native 
home.  For  example  : — *'  Awake,  awake,  put  on  thy 
strength,  O  [Messiah]  Arm  of  the  Lord."  "  Art  thou 
not  it  [He  I  that  hath  dried  the  sea  ;  the  waters  of 
the  great  deep  ;  that  hath  made  the  depths  of  the 
sea  a  way  for  the  ransomed  to  pass  over  ?  There- 
fore the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall  return,  and  come 
with  singing  unto  Zion  ;  and  everlasting  joy  shall 
be  upon  their  head;  they  shall  obtain  gladness  and 
joy;  and  sorrow  and  mourning  shall  flee  away,"* 
And  when  thus  converted,  the  delight  that  Israel 
will  experience  in  Zion — not  literal  Zion,  but 
the  Church  of  the  Redeemer— -are  depicted  under 
the  emblems  of  rebuilding  and  adorning  their  cities, 
and  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  own  land.  "  They 
shall  build,"  say  the  prophets,  "  their  old  wastes  ; 
they  shall  raise  up  the  former  desolations;  and  they 
shall  repair  the  waste  cities,  the  desolations  of  many 
generations. "t  "  In  that  day  will  1  raise  up  the 
tabernacle  of  David  that  is  fallen,  and  close  up  the 
breaches  thereof;  and  I  will  raise  up  his  ruins; 
and  I  will  build  it,  as  in  the  days  of  old." 
In  other  words,  I  will  cause  Israel  to  receive 
*  Isa  li  :  9-16  ;   52  :  9-12.  f  Isa  Ixi  :   4-6. 


PFHLOLOGV   OF  THE  COVENANTS.     •  03 

Christ,  whom  they  have  so  long  rejected.  "And 
they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  drink  the  wine 
thereof;  and  they  shall  make  gardens,  and  eat  the 
fruit  of  them."*  Their  joy  as  christians^  shall  be 
complete. 

The  covenants  in  their  full  import,  further  teach 
the  future  glory  o^  the  sanctified  in  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord. 

These  all,  are  spiritually,  '*  Abraham's  seed,  and" 
therefore,  *'  heirs  according  to  the  promise"  in  the 
covenants.  Their  im.mortality,  and  eternal  life,  are 
held  forth,  by  both  prophets  and  apostles,  under  the 
emblems  oi  renovated  heavens,  and  earth,  the  habita- 
tion of  restored  and  beautified  Jerusalem^  and  of  the 
fertile  and  ornamented  land  of  Canaan.  *'  Behold," 
said  God,  by  the  prophet,  ''  I  create  a  new  heavens, 
and  a  new  earth,  and  the  former  shall  not  be  re- 
membered, nor  come  into  mind."  "  Be  ye  glad,  and 
rejoice  forever,  in  that  which  I  create.  For  behold, 
I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy. 
And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem,  and  joy  in  my 
people.  And  the  voice  of  weeping  shall  no  more  be 
heard  in  her,  nor  the  voice  of  crying."t  What  shall 
we  understand  by  all  this?  The  new  heavens,  and 
earth,  so  excellent  that  the  former  are  no  more  even 
remembered  ;  and  the  new  Jerusalem,  in  which  God 
himself  will  rejoice  with  his  people,  and  in  which 
never  more  shall  be  any  pain  or  sorrow  ?  Isaiah 
speaks  of  them  as  if  they  were  here  upon  earth.  John 
the  apostle,  repeats  the  prophecy,  and  declares  that  it 

*  Amos  ix  :   11-15.  f  Isa  Ixv  :   17-26. 


94  PHILOLOGY  OF  THE   C0VENANT8. 

is  a  description  of  heaven  !  ^*I  saw,"  said  he,  anew 
heaven,  and  a  new  earth  ;  for  the  first  heaven,  and 
the  first  earth,  were  passed  away."  "And  I  John, 
saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down 
from  God,  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband.  And  1,  heard  a  voice  out 
of  heaven,  saying.  Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God  is 
with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them  :  and  they 
shall  be  his  people  ;  and  God  himself  shall  be  with 
them,  and  be  their  God;  and  God  shall  .wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes  ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying ;  neither  shall 
there  be  any  more  pain  ;  for  the  former  things  have 
passed  away."  *Again.  Isaiah  describing  restored 
and  beautified  Jerusalem,  says  :  "  The  sun  shall  be 
no  more  thy  light  by  day;  neither  for  brightness 
shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee  ;  but  the  Lord 
shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and  thy  God 
thy  glory."t  Describing  heaven,  John  says: — *' The 
city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon  to 
shine  in  it ;  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and 
the  Lamb  was  the  light  thereof."J  And  again. 
In  reference  to  Jerusalem,  Ezekiel  said  : — ''  Behold, 
waters  issued  from  the  threshold  of  the  house," 
[the  temple]  ;  ''  and  it  was  a  river  ;"  and  "  behold, 
at  the  bank  of  the  river  were  very  many  trees,  ont 
the  one  side,  and  on  the  other."  *'  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  that  every  thing,"  "whithersoever  the 
river  shall  come,  shall  live."  "  And  by  the  river, 
upon    the  bank    thereof,    on    this  side,  and  on  that 

*  Rev.  jcxi  :   1-5.  f  Isa  Ix  :  19.  t  Rev.  xxi  :  23. 


* 


PHILOLOGY    OF  THE  COVENANTS.  95 

side,  shall  grow  all  trees  for  meat,  whose  leaf  shall 
not  fade,  neither  shall  the  fruit  thereof  be  con- 
sumed. It  shall  bring  forth  new  fruit  according  to 
his  months  ;  and  the  fruit  thereof  shall  be  for  meat, 
and  the  leaf  thereof  for  medicine."^  Of  heaven 
John  says  : — "  He  showed  me  a  pure  river  of  the 
water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the 
throne  of  God,  and  of  the  Lamb.  In  the  midst  of 
the  street  of  it  [the  cityj  and  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life,  which  bare  twelve 
manner  of  fruits,  and  yielded  her  fruit  every  month, 
and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of 
the  nation."t 

That  the  prophets,  and  the  apostles,  speak  in 
these  passages,  of  precisely  the  same  things,  no  one 
can  reasonably  doubt.  The  apostles  unquestionably 
describe  ultimate  heaven,  and  glory.  Therefore  the 
prophets,  under  the  emblems  of  the  promises  in  the 
covenants,  referring  to  restored  and  beautified  Je- 
rusalem, certainly  describe  ultimate  heaven,  and 
glory.  This  conclusion,  so  evident  in  itself,  is  con- 
firmed by  Peter,  who  speaking  of  the  second  coming 
of  Christ,  the  destruction  of  the  material  universe, 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  final  happi- 
ness of  all  the  saints  on  high,  thus  admonishes  his 
brethren: — *' The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 
thief  in  the  night,  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall 
pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements 
shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also,  and  the 
works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burned  up.     Seeing 

*  Ezek.  xlvii  :  1-12.  abridged.  f  Rev.  xxii  :  1-3. 


96  PHILOLOGY   OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

then,  that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what 
manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be,  in  all  holy  con- 
versation, and  godliness,  looking  for,  and  hastening 
unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God  ?"  "  Neverthe- 
less, we  according  to  his  promise,  [in  the  prophets] 
!ook  for  new  heavens,  and  a  new  earth,  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness.  Wherefore  beloved,  seeing 
that  ye  look  for  such  things,  be  diligent,  that  ye  may 
be  found  of  him  in  peace,  without  spot,  and 
blameless."* 

The  same  philology,  I  will  further  at  present, 
only  remark,  must  also  be  applied  in  its  interpre- 
tation to  the  covenant  as  repeated  to  David.  To  him 
God  said,  and  the  declaration  was  frequently  re- 
peated :—''  Thy  seed  will  I  establish  forever ;  and 
build  up  thy  throne  to  ail  generations."!  He  did  in- 
deed literally  establish  David's  seed,  but  not  forever ; 
and  literally  built  up  David's  throne,  but  not  to  all 
generations.  The  terms  of  the  covenant  must  be  ac- 
complished. In  their  literal  import  they  have  un- 
questionably failed.  It  remains  only  therefore,  for  us 
to  expect  them  in  their  second  and  higher  meaning. 
And  they  are  accordingly,  gloriously  fulfilled  in  the 
person,  and  reign  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ ;  "  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom, 
and  whose  dominion  is  forever  and  ever."  "  David's 
kingdom,"  says  the  distinguished  Robert  Hall,  "was 
renewed  and  improved  into  higher  glories,  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  true,  spiritual,  substantial 

*  2  Pet.  iii :  10-U.  f  Fsa.  Ixxxix  :   19-36, 


PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS.  97 

David  ;  of  whose  kingdom  (it  cannot  reasonably  be 
doubted  by  any)  that  of  David  himself  was  a  type. 
The  empire  of  Christ  was  the  sequel,  and  continu- 
ation of  that  which  had  originated  in  the  son  of 
Jesse  ;  and  hence  the  Saviour  is  so  often  styled 
'The  son  of  David.'  The  angel  at  his  nativity 
announced  him  as  '  He  who  should  be  great,'  who 
should  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  father  David,  and 
of  whose  kingdom  there  should  be  no  end.'**  Already 
in  a  previous  chapter,  I  have  spoken  of  this  cove- 
nant somewhat  at  length.  I  have  referred  to  it  here 
again,  only  to  show  that  its  promises  are  of  such  a 
nature  that  their  perfect  fulfilment  is  impracticable, 
except  in  their  higher  sense,  and  in  which  they  bring 
prominently  before  us,  the  everlasting  kingdom,  and 
perpetual  dominion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Thus  we  have  seen  as  briefly  as  possible,  the 
philology  of  the  coverfants,  in  the  progress  of  our  in- 
vestigation of  which,  we  have  shown  that  while 
they  must  be  understood  in  their  plain  literal  sense, 
they  have  palpably  also,  a  second  and  higher  mean- 
ing, which  to  comprehend  them  truly,  you  must 
study,  and  understand ;  this  meaning  we  have 
traced,  explained,  and  illustrated,  as  contained  in 
the  promises  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  in 
the  covenants  of  the  law,  all  of  which  guarantied 
to  Abraham,  an  innumerable  seed,  and  perpetual 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  land  of  Canaan  ; 
and  we  have  seen  how  these  promises  were,  and 
are  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  in  the  conversion  of  all   na- 

*  Works,  vol.  ili.  p.  445. 
5 


98 


PHILOLOGY  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 


tions,  in  the  happiness  of  men  upon  earth,  in  the  re- 
surrection of  the  body,  and  in  the  everlasting  glory 
in  heaven  of  all  the  sanctified ;  and  we  have  also 
seen  how  the  covenant  as  repeated  to  David,  is  con- 
summated in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  "  In  whom  we 
have  redemption  by  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace."  "  Of  him,  and 
through  him,  are  all  things  ;  to  whom  be  glory  for- 
ever and  ever.     Amen." 


THE  OLD  COVENANT,  ETC.  99 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  OLD  COVENANT  AND  THE  NEW  COVENANT. 

The  two  classes  of  covenauts,  resolved  into  two  covenants  ;  their 
nature,  and  contrast ;  old  covenant  fulfilled,  and  superseded  by 
the  new  ;  preparation  of  the  Gentile  world  for  Messiah's  coming  ; 
nature  and  excellence  of  the  gospel. 

In  addition  to  tiie  covenant  of  works,  which,  as 
has  been  said,  is  peculiar  in  its  character,  and  stands 
by  itself,  we  have  traced  in  the  preceding  chapters, 
two  classes  of  covenants,  of  three  each,  and  seen 
their  nature,  their  purpose,  their  mutual  relations, 
and  their  true  interpretation.  To  all  who  study 
them  attentively  and  intelligently,  it  must  be  appa- 
rent that  they  resolve  themselves  into  substantially, 
ttoo  covenants  ;  the  one  relating-  to  Christ  directly, 
and  the  other  relating  to  him  indirectly,  being  em- 
bodied in  the  circumstances  which  preceded  his  com- 
ing, and  prepared  the  minds  of  men  to  receive  him. 
You  turn  to  the  teachings  of  the  evangelists  and 
apostles,  and  your  convictions  on  this  subject  are 
established  and  confirmed.  Everywhere  they  speak 
of  the  one  class  (that  which  embraces  all  the  cove- 
nants of  the  law)  as  the  old  covenant;  and  of  the 
other  class  (that  which  includes  all  the  covenants 
of  the  gospel)  as  the  new  covenant ;  and  which  to  us 
are  more  familiarly  known,  as  the  Old  Testament 


100  THE   OLD  COVENANT 

and  the  New  Testament,  The  three  covenants  which 
composed  the  law^  and  which  are  therefore,  one  in 
effect,  fixed  the  circumstances  of  which  I  have  spo- 
ken, which  preceded  and  prepared  for  the  coming 
of  Messiah.  They  grew  naturally  out  of  the  pro- 
mise to  Abraham,  that  the  Saviour  should  spring, 
according  to  the  flesh,  from  his  family.  This  pro- 
mise of  God  in  Christ  to  him,  bore,  consequently, 
the  same  relation  to  the  covenants  of  the  law,  or 
the  old  covenant,  that  a  constitution  does  to  legisla- 
tive enactments  ;  the  latter  being  designed  to  carry 
out  in  the  best  possible  manner,  the  provisions  of 
the  former.  With  these  facts  before  us,  the  reasons 
are  obvious,  why  the  whole  dispensation  of  Moses 
is  so  often,  and  so  appropriately  denominated  "  the 
law  ;"  not  eminently  the  '*  moi^al  law,^^  but  especially 
that  law  which  was  contained  in  "  ordinances,^^  and 
which  the  Saviour  removed,  ''nailing  it  to  his  cross.^^"^ 
In  like  manner,  the  three  covenants  that  comprise 
the  gospel,  and  which,  also,  in  substance,  are  one, 
form  the  new  covenant  in  the  blood  of  Christ ;" 
"  the  everlasting  gospel  ;"  older  than  the  law,  but  not 
visibly  administered  until  after  the  law  had  been 
perfectly  fulfilled,  and  had  consequently  passed 
away.  As  previously  determined,  ''  All  the  proph- 
ets, and  the  law,  prophecied  until  John  **  the  Bap- 
tist."! *' Since  that  time  the  kingdom  of  God  [the 
gospel]  is  preached,  and  every  man  presseth  into 
it."t 

If  this  statement   of  the   subject   needs   further 

*  Col  ii :  14.  f  Matt,  xi  :  13.  i  Luke  xvi :  16. 


ii 


AXD  THE  NEW  COVEXAXT.  101 

confirmation,  the  evidence  is  abundant,  and  at  hand. 
Of  the  law,  and  the  gospel — the  Old,  and  New  cove- 
nants— Paul  speaks  in  language  which  can  hardly 
be  misunderstood.  He  characterises  them,  not  as 
one  covenant,  developing  itself  in  different  forms; 
nor  as  two  of  the  covenants  which  marked  the 
history  of  the  divine  government ;  but  as  '*  the  two 
covenants^^  of  God.  Both  were  in  their  place  su- 
premely excellent,  and  perfectly  adapted  to  secure 
the  ends  for  which  they  were  respectively  designed. 
Both  were  made  necessary,  by  the  original  violation 
of  the  covenant  of  w^orks.  Both  were  predicated 
upon  the  infinite  grace  of  God.  The  one  was  the 
auxiliary  of  the  other.  But  they  were  not  both 
alike  exalted.  The  gospel  was  unspeakably  more 
glorious  than  the  law,  since  this  was  the  very  soul 
of  the  plan  of  salvation,  while  that  was  a  temporary 
institution  only,  "  added  because  of  transgression, 
till  the  seed  [Christ]  should  come."*  Such  were 
their  nature  and  reciprocal  relations.  They  are  by 
an  apostle,  held  up  before  you  in  contrast,  *'  If," 
says  Paul,  ''  the  ministration  of  death,  [the  old  cove- 
nant ;  the  law^]  written  and  engraven  on  stones, 
was  glorious,  so  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not 
steadfastly  behold  the  face  of  Moses,  for  the  glory  of 
his  countenance,  which  gloiy  w^as  to  be  done  away  ; 
how  shall  not  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit  [the 
new  covenant ;  the  gospel]  be  rather  glorious  ?  For 
if  the  ministration  of  condemnation  be  glory,  much 
more  doth  the  ministration  of  righteousness  exceed 

*Gal.  iii:  19. 


102  THE  OLD  COVENANT 

in  glory.  For  even  that  which  was  made  glorious, 
had  no  glory  in  this  respect,  by  reason  of  the  glory 
that  excelleth.  For  if  that  which  was  done  away 
was  glorious,  much  more  that  which  remaineth  is 
glorious."* 

No  part  of  the  old  covenant  failed  of  its  purposes. 
The  law,  and  the  prophets,  were  designed,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  bear  witness  to  Christ.  When  that 
office  v^as  performed,  their  mission  was  ended. 
Therefore,  said  our  Redeemer,  "  Think  not  that  I 
am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the  prophets.  I  am 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  For  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot,  or 
one  tittle,  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all 
be  fulfilled."!  They  were  fulfilled.  Messiah  fin- 
ished  his  work.  The  old  covenant  existed  no  more. 
The  dispensation  of  Moses  terminated.  "  Christ  is 
the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth."J  Faithfully  were  all  these  truths 
taught  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  yet  it  was 
then,  and  it  is  still  difficult,  to  withdraw  the  minds 
of  even  intelligent  Christians,  from  the  observances 
of  the  old  covenant,  and  fix  them  unwaveringly 
upon  a  present  Messiah.  They  "  cannot  steadfastly 
look  to  the  end  of  that  which  is  abolished."  '*  Their 
minds  are  blinded."||  The  disposition  is  perpetually 
manifesting  itself,  "to  engraft  Judaism  upon  the 
gospel  of  Christ."!     To  all  such  Christians  Paul  ad- 

*2Cor.  iii:  7^11.  t  Matt,  v:  17,  18. 

tRom.  X  .  4.  II  Gal.  iii:   13,  14. 

If  Vide  Evils  of  Infant  Baptism,  from  which  I  have  here  abridged 
a  paragraph. 


|and  the  new  covenant.  103 

dresses  himself  thus : — "  It  is  written  that  Abraham 
had  two  sons  ;  the  one  by  a  bond  maid,  the  other 
by  a  free  woman.  But  he  of  the  bond  woman  was 
born  after  the  flesh  ;  and  he  of  the  free  woman  by 
promise.  Which  things  are  an  allegory  ;  for  these 
are  the  two  covenants  ;  the  one  [the  law,  or  old  cove- 
nant] is  from  Mount  Sinai,  which  gendereth  to  bon- 
dage, which  is  Hagar ;  for  this  Hagar  is  Mount 
Sinai  in  Arabia,  and  answereth  to  Jerusalem  that 
now  is,  and  is  in  bondage  with  her  children."  The 
other  [the  gospel,  or  new  covenant]  is  from  Mount 
Zion,  which  gendereth  to  freedom,  which  is  Sarah ; 
for  Sarah  answereth  to  '^  Jerusalem  which  is  above, 
which  is  free,  and  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all," 
who  believe.*  In  other  words,  Ishmael,  although 
the  son  of  Abraham,  could  not  legally  inherit  his 
father's  estate,  because  he  was  born  of  a  slave,  and 
was,  therefore,  himself  a  slave.  So  Israel  after  the 
flesh,  were  the  children  of  Abraham,  but  were  not 
on  that  account  entitled  to  the  gospel  inheritance. 
"  The  children  of  the  promise,"  not  of  the  flesh, 
*'  were  counted  for  the  seed."  Under  the  law,  the 
children  of  the  flesh,  were  the  sons  of  the  covenant 
of  Sinai,  and  remained  in  bondage.  Therefore, 
when  introducing  the  gospel,  John  the  Baptist  said 
to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  "  Bring  forth  fruits 
meet  for  repentance ;  and  think  not  to  say  within 
yourselves,  we  have  Abraham  to  our  father  ;  for  I 
say  unto  you,  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones,  to 
raise  up  children  unto  Abraham."!  Isaac  was  by 
promise.  He  was  the  son  of  a  lawful  wife,  an- 
■  ♦  Gal.  iv :  23-31.  t  Matt,  iii :  8,  9. 


104  THE  OLD  COVENANT 

swering  to  the  new  covenant.  He  was  free,  and 
the  legitimate  heir  of  all.  As  he  was,  so  are  all 
true  Christians,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles — the 
children  of  promise.  For  with  God  their  is  no  differ- 
ence ;  ^^no  respect  of  persons."  They  are  free.  They 
are  the  true  "  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  of  all  that  constitutes  the  king- 
dom of  glory.^  Among  the  many  that  are  found 
in  the  epistles,  I  will  offer  but  one  other  apostolic 
exposition  of  the  "  two  covenants,"  and  which  will 
also  serve  to  show  the  abrogation  of  the  law,  and 
the  independent,  and  effective  character  of  the  gos- 
pel : — "  Christ  hath  obtained  a  more  excellent  min- 
istry [than  that  of  Moses]  by  how  much  also,  he  is 
the  Mediator  of  a  better  covenant  [than  that  of  the  | 
law,  andj  which  was  established  upon  better  pro-  ^ 
mises.  For  if  that  first  covenant  had  been  fault* 
less>  then  should  no  place  have  been  sought  for  the 
second.  But  finding  fault  with  them,  he  saith.  Be- 
hold the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will 
make  [bring  into  visible  administration]  a  new 
covenant,  with  the  [spiritual]  house  of  Israel,  and  | 
the  [spiritual]  house  of  Judah  ;  not  according  to 
the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers,  [the 
old  covenant]  when  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to 
lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  because  they 
continued  not  in  my  covenant,  [did  not  obey  it]  and 
I  regarded  them  not  [cast  them  off]  saith  the  Lord. 
For  this  is  the  covenant  [a  gracious  gospel  cove- 
nant,] that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel  af- 

*  Rom.  viii :  17. 


I 


I 


AND  THE  NEW  COVENANT.  105 

ter  those  days,  saith  the  Lord  ;  I  will  put  my  laws 
into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their  heart ;  and 
I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a 
people  ;  and  they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his 
neighbor,  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know 
the  Lord,  for  all  shall  know  me,  from  the  least  to 
the  greatest ;  for  I  will  be  merciful  to  their  unright- 
eousness, and  their  sins,  and  their  iniquities,  will  I 
remember  no  more.  In  that  he  saith,  A  new  cove- 
nant, he  hath  made  the  first  old.  Now  that  which 
decayeth,  and  waxeth  old,  is  ready  to  vanish  away."* 

Thus  have  we  seen  that  the  old  covenant,  or  law, 
was  fulfilled,  and  superseded  by  the  new  covenant, 
or  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Permit  me  in 
passing,  briefly  to  observe,  that  there  was  also  a 
preparation  for  the  coming  of  Christ,  necessary 
among  the  Gentile  nations,  as  well  as  among  the 
Hebrew  people.  This  preparation  was  peculiar, 
and  essential  to  the  ends  proposed  by  divine  grace. 

The  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  especially  those 
which  teach  that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  whether 
of  the  original  moral  code,  common  to  all  the  cove- 
nants, and  which  our  first  parents  transgressed,  or  of 
the  law  of  Moses,  ''  no  flesh  living  can  be  justified  ; 
that  if  man  be  saved  at  all,  it  must  be  by  the  inter- 
vention of  another  ;  that  all  even  the  holiest  of  his 
acts,  are  sinful  since  they  are  defective,  either  in 
themselves,  or  in  their  motives  ;  and  that  even  if  it 
could  be  shown  that  any  single  acts  are  perfect, 
there  are  others  that  are  sinful ;  these  are  the  last 

*Heb.  viii:  7-13. 


106  THE  OLD  COVENANT 

truths  that  men  are  disposed  to  believe  or  admit. 
They  needed  to  be  proved  by  experiment.  And 
their  practical  demonstration  is  found,  in  the  historj^ 
of  all  nations,  and  ages.  The  world  was  not  with- 
out some  light  from  heaven  ;  but  this  light  was  dis- 
regarded. Four  thousand  years  past,  and  who 
sought  after  God  ?  The  Gentiles  did  not  like  to  re- 
tain God  in  their  knowledge  ;  and  the  Jews  cor- 
rupted, and  abused  the  revelation  with  which  they 
w^ere  entrusted.  So  far  was  man  everywhere,  from 
showing  any  tendency  to 

Regain,  self-raised,  his  native  seat, 

that  in  all  places  his  depravity  became  more  and 
more  intense,  until  at  the  time  of  the  advent  of  Mes- 
siah, the  world,  and  the  civilized  world  especially, 
had  reached  an  unsurpassed  pre-eminence  in  wick- 
edness. ''  Civil  Government  had  no  power  to  reclaim 
men  from  sin.  The  experiment  had  been  tried  un- 
der every  form,  and  all  were  found  alike  incapable 
of  raising  him  from  his  corruptions.  Unless,  there- 
fore, help  could  arise  from  some  other  source,  it 
was  evident  that  his  condition  was  hopeless.  Learn- 
ing was  fully  tested.  From  Pythagoras  to  Socrates, 
questions  of  physical,  and  moral  truth,  had  been  in- 
cessantly discussed.  The  wisdom  of  that  age  of 
the  world  reached  its  perfection,  in  the  intellectual 
and  moral  reign  of  the  Sophists.  And  what  were 
the  results  ?  The  noblest  of  all  their  philosophers, 
who  proved  '  from  the  things  that  are  made,'  the 
existence  and  attributes  of  God  ;  and  from  his  cha- 
racter, the  relations  he  sustains  to  men,  paid  for  his 


AND  THE  NEW  COVENANT.  107 

fidelity  to  his  principles,  with  the  forfeiture  of  his 
life.  His  sentiments  revived  in  the  teachings  of 
Plato,  whose  themes  were  indeed  beautiful,  but  like 
the  stars,  they  were  too  high  above  us  to  be  of  any 
real  use.  Aristotle  too,  with  all  his  strength,  and 
clearness  of  intellect,  contributed  nothing  to  prac- 
tical morals  and  religion  ?  What  could  philosophy 
do  ?  It  could  analyse  with  matchless  skill,  the  pas- 
sions that  sway  the  human  heart,  but  it  had  no 
power  to  break  the  bondage  of  sin.  And  sculpture^ 
and  poetry,  and  eloquence,  had  all  framed  their  fault- 
less models,  and  had  all  ministered  to  vice.  Taste 
presided  in  every  department  of  life  ;  but  it  was 
taste  revelling  in  licentiousness.  Forms  of  govern- 
ment, learning,  art,  poetry,  eloquence,  taste,  all  had 
failed  to  win  men  from  sin,  and  the  proof  was  com- 
plete that  '  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not,'  and 
never  could  know  God. 

Yet  science,  literature,  cultivation,  which  thus  in 
the  providence  of  God  had  arisen,  were,  in  another 
aspect,  of  unspeakable  value.  They  were  indis- 
pensible  as  a  preparation  of  the  Gentiles  for  Mes- 
siah's advent.  The  new  covenant — the  gospel — to 
be  promulgated  by  ''God  manifest  in  the  flesh," 
embodies  a  system  of  spiritual  truth,  which  without 
such  training,  the  people  could  never  have  under- 
stood, nor  appreciated.  While,  therefore,  all  these 
advantages  clearly  proved  that  something  higher 
was  needed,  they  placed  men  in  an  attitude  to  ex- 
amine, and  intelligently  to  receive  that  exalted 
boon.  The  claims  of  the  gospel  must,  for  example, 
be  tested  by  miracle.     But  the  state  of  knowledge 


108  THE  OLD  COVENANT 


II 


in  a  barbarous  age,  would  have  rendered  miracles — 
which  in  all  cases,  must  suspend,  or  change,  or  re- 
verse the  laws  of  nature — wholly  useless,  since 
unless  these  laws  are  to  a  certain  extent  known,  }t 
cannot  be  determined  when,  in  specified  instances, 
any  of  these  results  actually  occur.  Therefore  the 
people  could  not  have  known  whether  the  wonders 
they  saw,  were  really  miracles,  the  proper  results  of 
certain  natural  laws,  or  mere  delusions  practiced 
upon  their  credulity.  And  so  in  regard  to  other 
forms  of  testimony,  by  which  the  gospel  is  sustained. 
An  uncultivated  community  would  have  been  in- 
competent judges  ;  and  even  had  they  been  con- 
vinced themselves,  their  witness  would  have  been 
met  by  others,  with  utter  incredulity.  The  cultiva- 
tion of  philosophy  therefore,  and  the  sciences  gene- 
rally, prepared  men  to  examine,  approve,  and  em- 
brace the  glorious  Messiah.  And  a  highly  culti- 
vated literature  was  also  equally  demanded.  The 
language  of  an  ignorant  people,  would  have  been 
unequal  to  the  task  of  embodying,  and  transmitting 
the  sublime  conceptions  of  Christianity.  This  could 
have  been  done  only  by  a  language  which  had 
reached  the  highest  point  of  cultivation  of  which 
language  is  capable.  The  Greek  was  selected,  as 
the  medium  of  the  New  Testament,  and  in  every 
excellence,  never  has  it  been  surpassed.  Indeed  for 
strength,  and  flexibility,  for  the  expression  of  logi- 
cal distinctions,  and  of  the  tenderest  sentiment,  for 
lyrical  softness,  the  highest  imagination  and  the 
full  power  of  eloquence,  it  is  inimitable.  This  lan- 
guage had  immediately  preceding  Messiah's  advent, 


AND  THE  NEW  COVENANT.  109 

become  the  passion,  and  was  the  prevailing  speech 
of  the  civilized,  and  especially  of  the  learned  w^orld. 
Whatever  was  written  in  Greek,  was  at  once  stu- 
NJied  by  all  who  were  familiar  with  books.  These 
successive  advances  necessarily  tardy,  in  science, 
literature,  and  art,  which  had  now  reached  their 
highest  point  of  excellence,  were  thus  rendered  ef- 
fective preparations  among  the  Gentiles,  for  his 
coming,  whose  claims  were  to  be  so  tested  as  never 
afterwards  to  be  called  in  question,  and  whose  doc- 
trines are  to  be  examined,  and  believed  by  the 
whole  world. ^ 

We  now  for  a  moment,  in  conclusion,  consider  the 
exalted  design,  and  nature  of  this  new  covenant — 
the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

These  are  presented  in  a  single  sentence,  by  the 
Saviour  himself: — "God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believ- 
eth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life."t  And  Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians,  "  I  declare 
unto  you  the  gospel,  which  I  preached  unto  you, 
which  also  ye  have  received,  and  wherein  ye  stand, 
by  which  also  ye  are  saved ;"  "  how  that  Christ 
died  for  our  sins,  according  to  the  scriptures  ;  and 
that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third 
day,  according  to  the  scriptures."J  To  Timothy  he 
said,  ''  this  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners'."!!     "  We   preach,"  said  he,  in  ano- 

*See  Christ  Our  Life,  by  Angus,  pp.  71-86,  from  which  I  have 
abridged  the  last  two  paragraphs. 

t  John  iii :  16.  f  1  Cor.  xv  :  1-4.  ||  2  Tim.  ii :  11. 


110  THE  OLD  COVENANT 

ther  place,  "  Christ  crucified  ;  to  the  Jews  a  stumb- 
ling block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness ;  but  to 
them  that  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ 
the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."^  But 
still  more  fully  and  explicitly  ; — "  The  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  us,  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one 
died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead  ;  and  that  he  died 
for  all,  that  they  who  live,  should  not,  henceforth, 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for 
them,  and  rose  again."  "  Therefore,  if  any  man  be 
in  Christ  Jesus,  he  is  a  new  creature.  Old  things 
have  passed  away ;  behold  all  things  have  become 
new.  And  all  things  are  of  God,  who  hath  recon- 
ciled us  unto  himself  by  Jesus  Christ."  '^  For  God 
was  in  Christ, "reconciling  the  world  unto  himself, 
not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them  ;"  and  '^hath 
made  him,  who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us,  that 
we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
him.f"  In  these,  and  like  inspired  expositions,  we 
have  a  true  representation  of  the  gospel  covenant. 
It  teaches  us  that  we  are  depraved,  and  sinful,  and 
that  while  we  remain  in  this  condition,  we  must 
continue  under  the  wrath  of  God,  and  thus  wholly 
disqualified  for  happiness,  and  heaven  ;  it  teaches 
us  that  the  mercy  of  God,  originating  exclusively 
in  himself,  could  reach  the  estate  of  guilty  and  lost 
men,  only  through  the  great  sacrifice  of  his  Son, 
our  adorable  Redeemer,  who  came  into  our  world, 
fulfilled  in  our  behalf  all  the  claims  of  divine  jus- 
tice, and  through  his  own  mediation  offers  us  salva- 

*  1  Cor.  i  :  23,  24.  f  2  Cor.  v  :  14-21. 


AXD  THE  NEW  COVENANT.  1  1  1 

tion,  and  eternal  life  ;  it  teaches  us  that  "  with  this 
sacrifice  God  is  well  pleased,"  and  can  through  him, 
consistently  pardon  the  sinner,  and  does  pardon  all, 
however  guilty,  who  believe  in  his  Son  our  Saviour  ; 
and  it  teaches  us  that  he  sends  into  the  heart  of 
every  true  penitent,  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  whose  min- 
istry he  is  regenerated,  sanctified,  and  prepared  to 
be  an  eternal  inhabitant  of  the  kingdom  of  glory. 

Thus  have  we  seen  that  the  two  classes  of  cove- 
nants, which  have  passed  in  review  before  us,  are 
resolved  in  effect,  into  two  covenants  ;  that  they  are 
so  received,  and  expounded  by  Christ,  and  his  apos- 
tles ;  that  the  old  covenant,  or  testament — the  Mo- 
saic law — was  in  its  nature,  although  glorious  in 
itself,  and  in  its  purposes,  necessarily  temporary,  and 
superseded  by  the  gospel — the  new  covenant,  or  tes- 
tament ;  that  the  Gentile,  as  well  as  the  Jewish  world, 
needed  a  preparation,  and  what  that  preparation 
was,  for  the  coming  of  Messiah  ;  and  the  nature 
and  excellence  of  that  new  covenant,  which  is  ''  the 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  Thanks  to  *'  the 
Father  of  all  our  mercies,"  redemption  is  now  no 
longer  a  matter  of  promise  merely.  It  is  a  joyful 
reality.  Christ  Jesus,  the  'Messiah,  the  Deliverer, 
has  come,  and  accomplished  his  exalted  mission. 
The  work  is  done.  It  is  our  privilege,  and  honor, 
to  live  in  the  midst  of  the  light  and  glory  of  the 
gospel. 


1 12  THE  TEACHINGS 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  TEACHINGS  OF  THE  COVENANTS. 

Messiahship  of  Jesus  :  form  of  the  Cliristiaii  Church  ;  purposes  of 
God  in  relation  to  the  Israelites  :  Church  not  visible  until  the 
coming  of  Christ :  qualifications  for  membership  :  signs  and  seals 
of  the  covenants  :  consummation  of  the  covenant  in  Christ's  se- 
cond comine. 


«i 


All  the  covenants  recorded  in  the  word  of  God, 
having  reference  directly,  and  indirectly,  to  onr  re- 
demption from  sin,  and  salvation  by  Christ,  are  now  i 
before  you.  It  remains  only  that  we  consider  briefly  tI 
some  few  of  their  doctrinal,  and  practical  teachings. 
I  say  some  few,  and  briefly,  because  to  refer  to  them 
all,  and  in  detail,  would  require  more  time  and 
space  than  can  now  be  commanded,  and  1  must  com- 
press them  into  a  single  chapter.  How  vividly  do 
these  covenants  illustrate  the  grace  of  God  in  your 
redemption  ;  the  miserable  condition  of  men  in  their 
fallen  state ;  the  love,  and  goodness  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ !  How  affecting  the  ap- 
peal which  they  make  to  your  gratitude,  and  obedi- 
ence !  With  a  full  soul,  as  you  contemplate  them, 
you  exclaim  with  Paul  ;  ''  O  the  depth  of  the  riches, 
both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  How 
unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  113 

finding  out  !"*  But  all  these,  and  many  other  like 
considerations,  we  must  pass  over  in  silence. 

1.  One  among  the  most  impressive  lessons  taught 
us  by  the  covenants  is,  I  remark,  in  the  first  place, 
the  demonstration  they  give  of  the  Messiahship  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Of  all  the  covenants  of  the  law  especially,  this 
was  the  primary  purpose.  These,  as  we  have  seen, 
provided,  to  a  great  extent,  the  testimony  required, 
to  place  the  faith  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  upon 
an  immovable  foundation.  Is  not  the  proof  of  his 
Messiahship  given  b^-  them,  and  their  auxiliaries, 
perfectly  conclusive?  Was  not  Jesus  the  Christ  ? 
Is  the  promised  Deliverer  yet  to  come  ?  Then  all  is 
lost  irrecoverably. ^Come  when  he  will,  it  never  can 
be  certainly  known  that  he  is  the  promised  Mes- 
siah. No  means  exist — no  means  ever  can  exist — 
by  which  his  claims  may  be  satisfactorily  estab- 
lished. The  Jews  fromfwhom  he  was  to  spring  are 
no  longer  a  nation,  but  driven  centuries  since,  from 
their  country,  are  in  hopeless  exile.  Their  laws 
w^hich  God  pledged  himself  to  maintain  until  his 
advent,  ceased  to  be  administered  eighteen  hundred 
years  since.  Long  ago  has  past  the  prophetic  pe- 
riod for  his  appearing.  The  genealogies  of  the 
tribes  are  all  wholly  lost.  Not  a  Jew  can  be  found 
on  earth,  who,  as  they  themselves  confess,  knows, 
or  ever  can  know,  whether  he  is  a  descendant  of 
David,  or  of  some  other  Hebrew  family.  Messiah 
not  yet  come  !     Then    all  prophecy,  and  all  history 

*  Rom.  xi :  33. 


114  THE  TEACHINGS 

must  be  discredited.  The  Bible  itself  is  a  fable, 
and  no  confidence  can  be  placed  in  its  revelations. 
Religion,  in  all  its  forms,  is  only  a  delicious  dream  ! 
But,  happily,  we  labor  under  no  such  uncertainties. 
God  himself  has  provided,  in  these  covenants,  and 
their  auxiliaries,  against  all  indefiniteness.  The 
proof  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is  fall  and  "  infalli- 
ble." He  came  at  the  precise  time,  and  in  the  very 
place,  fixed  by  prophecy,  for  the  coming  of  Mes- 
siah ;  all  the  collateral  events  occurred  which  were 
predicted  to  transpire  at  his  appearing ;  the  family 
from  which  he  sprung ;  the  place  of  his  birth,  and  of 
his  teaching ;  the  works  which  he  did  ;  the  events 
previously  predicted,  of  his  life,  betrayal,  sufferings, 
death,  resurrection,  and  ascension ;  all  these  leave 
upon  the  intelligent,  and  unprejudiced  mind,  no 
doubts.  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  men. 

2.  The  teachings  of  the  covenants,  truly  inter- 
preted, give  us,  secondly,  important  aid  in  deter- 
mining the  character,  and  form  of  the  visible  Chris- 
tian church. 

They  concur  with  the  New  Testament,  in  estab- 
lishing the  fact,  that  it  is  "A  congregation  of 
faithful  men,  in  which  the  true  word  of  God  is 
preached,  and  the  sacraments  duly  administered, 
according  to  Christ's  ordinances,  in  all  those  things 
that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the  same."*  It 
is  therefore,  a  purely  spiritual  body,  called  out  of 
the  world,  by  the  gospel;\   and  formally  organized 

*  XXXIX  Articles,  Art.  IX.  f  E/c/foAew,  $KK\D<na, 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  115 

for  the  service  of  Christ,  according  to  his  own  laws. 
In  professed  agreement  with  these  doctrines,  but 
practically,  in  direct  opposition  to  them,  it  has  been 
very  generally  assumed,  that  *'  The  Jewish  society 
before  Christ,  and  the  Christian  society  after  Christ, 
are  one,  and  the  same  church,  under  different  dis- 
pensations." This  proposition,  you  must,  from  the 
exammation  through  which  we  have  passed,  be 
convinced  cannot  be  sustained.  The  covenants 
themselves,  plainly  show  that  the  Jewish  church, 
and  the  Christian  church,  are  organized  upon  dif- 
ferent, and  dissimilar  covenants  ;  that  they  are  com- 
posed of  wholly  unlike  materials — the  one  of  the 
entire  Hebrew  nation,  the  other  of  "  faithful  men," 
believers  only  ;  that  one  was  a  figure  of  the  other ; 
and  that  when  the  gospel  church,  the  reality,  was 
visibly  organized,  the  Jewish  church,  the  figure, 
ceased  to  exist.  The  covenants  of  the  law,  were 
the  charter  of  the  Jewish  church.  They  were  de- 
signed, as  we  have  seen,  to  bear  witness  to  Christ. 
When  he  came,  and  was  acknowledged,  their  pur- 
pose being  accomplished,  they  were  superseded, 
since  when  the  charter  expired,  then  of  course,  ex- 
pired with  it,  all  the  peculiar  privileges  it  conferred. 
The  Jewish  church,  therefore,  was  not  continued  in 
any  form.  The  new  covenant  was  now  introduced 
into  visible  administration.  This  is  the  charter  of 
the  Christian  church.  If  the  apostles  teach  us  truly, 
these  churches  were  so  unlike,  that  the  removal  of 
the  Jewish  was  necessary  to  the  introduction  of 
the  Christian  : — "  He  taketh  away  the  first  [cove- 
nant   says    Paul,]    that   he    may   establish   the   se- 


116  THE  TEACHINGS 

cond."*  And  David  speaking  prophetically  of  Mes- 
siah, says: — ''The  Lord  hath  sworn,  and  will  not 
repent ;  Thou  art  a  priest  forever,  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedeck."t  In  exposition  of  this  passage,  Paul 
remarks  : — ''  If  perfection  were  by  the  Levitical 
priesthood,  (for  under  it  the  people  received  the 
law,)  what  further  need  was  there  that  another 
priest  should  arise,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedeck, 
and  not  be  called  after  the  order  of  Aaron  ?  For 
the  priesthood  being  changed,  there  is  made  of  ne- 
cessit}^,  a  change  also  of  the  law.  For  he  of  whom 
these  things  are  spoken  pertaineth  to  another  tribe, 
of  whom  no  man  gave  attendance  at  the  altar. 
Fpr  it  is  evident  that  our  Lord  sprang  out  of  Ju- 
dah,  [such  is  the  stipulation  of  the  covenant]  of 
which  tribe  Moses  spake  nothing  concerning  priest- 
hood. And  it  is  far  more  evident,"  that  "  there  is 
a  disannulling  of  the  commandment  going  before 
[the  old  covenant]  for  the  weakness  and  unprofita- 
bleness thereof.  For  the  law  [the  Jewish  covenant] 
made  nothing  perfect ;  [being  figurative  merely]  but 
the  bringing  in  of  a  better  hope  [the  gospel  cove- 
nant] did ;  by  the  which  hope  we  draw  nigh  unto 
God."J  Can  that  which  is  removed,  and  that  which 
is  placed  in  its  stead,  be  after  all,  substantially  the 
same  thing  ?  Can  the  law  be  changed,  and  still 
continue  to  be  the  same  law  ?  If  not,  then  the  co- 
venant of  the  Christian  church,  is  another  covenant 
than  that  of  the  Jewish  church  ;  having  a  new  Me- 
diator, a  new  order  of  priests,  new  sacrifices,  and  a 

*  Heb.  X  :  9.  f  Ps.  ex  :  4.  t  Heb.  vii :  11-19. 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  1  17 

new  service.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  **  The  Jew- 
ish society  before  Christ,  and  the  Christian  society 
after  Christ,  are  not  one  and  the  same  church  under 
different  dispensations."  Consequently  all  the  de- 
ductions from  this  source  to  which  men  are  wont 
to  resort,  in  reference  to  the  nature,  form,  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Christian  church,  are  baseless,  and 
necessarily  fall  to  the  ground. 

These  conclusions,  so  obviously  scriptural,  and 
true,  are,  I  am  glad  to  find,  beginning  to  be  ac- 
knowledged by  the  learned,  and  candid,  even  in  the 
ranks  of  our  Pedobaptist  brethren.  1  might  intro- 
duce several  authorities,  but  will  satisfy  myself  with 
one  only.  Dr.  Hodge,  one  of  the  Professors  in  the 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  says : — "  It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  there  were  two  covenants  made 
with  Abraham.  By  the  one  his  natural  descendants 
through  Isaac,  were  constituted  a  commonwealth— 
an  external  community  ;  by  the  other  his  spiritual 
descendants  were  constituted  into  a  church,  [invisi- 
ble of  course,  since,  at  that  time,  the  only  formal 
organization  was  that  of  the  law.]  The  parties  to 
the  former  covenant,  were  God,  and  the  nation  ;  to 
the  other,  God,  and  his  true  people.  The  promises 
of  the  national  covenant,  were  national  blessings  ; 
the  promises  of  the  spiritual  covenant  (i.  e.  the  cove- 
nant of  grace)  were  spiritual  blessings,  as  recon- 
ciliation, holiness,  and  eternal  life.  The  conditions 
I  of  the  one  covenant  [the  old]  were  circumcision, 
and  obedience  to  the  law  ;  the  conditions  of  the 
j  other  were,  and  ever  have  been,  faith  in  the  Mes- 
j  siah,  as  *  the  seed  of  the  woman,'  the  Son  of  God, 


118  THE  TEACHINGS 

the  Saviour  of  the  world.  There  cannot  be  a  grea- 
ter mistake  than  to  confound  the  national  covenant 
with  the  covenant  of  grace,  [that  is,  the  old  cove' 
nant  with  the  new]  and  the  commonwealth  founded 
on  the  one,  with  the  church* founded  on  the  other. 
When  Christ  came,  the  commonwealth  was  abol- 
ished, and  there  was  nothing  put  in  its  place.  The 
church  [now  made  visible]  remained.  There  was 
no  external  covenant,  nor  promise  of  external  bles- 
sings, on  condition  of  external  rites,  and  subjection. 
There  was  a  spiritual  society,  with  spiritual  pro- 
mises, on  condition  of  faith  in  Christ."  ''  The  church 
is,  therefore,  in  its  essential  nature,  a  company  of 
believers,  and  not  an  external  society,  requiring 
merely  external  profession  as  the  condition  of  mem- 
bership.*" This  is  the  true  testimony.  It  must  be 
so.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  The  Jewish  church 
which  rejected,  and  cast  out  the  Christian  church, 
could  not  be  substantially  that  very  Christian  church 
which  it  cast  out,  and  rejected.  The  Jewish  church 
into  which  its  members  were  born  by  natural  birth, 
could  not  be  the  same  church  with  the  Christian, 
into  which  none  can  lawfully  enter  but  such  as  are 
*'  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."t  Was  the  church 
which  contained  the  Scribes,  and  Pharisees,  and 
Sadducees,  the  most  open,  determined,  and  malig- 
nant enemies  of  Christ,  the  same  church  with  that 
into  which  none  can  enter,  but  those  who  love 
Christ    with  all  their  soul,  and  mind  and  strength  ? 

♦Princeton  Review,  October,  1853.  f  Jolin  i :  13. 


or  THE  COVENANTS.  1  19 

The  church  of  Israel,  was  the  nation  of  Israel,  and, 
as  a  whole,  could  no  more  be  the  church  of  Christ, 
in  the  New  Testament  sense  of  that  phrase,  than 
the  American  nation,  can  be  called  the  church  of 
Xhrist. 

3.  The  covenants,  thirdly,  clearly  teach  us  that 
all  the  peculiar  purposes  of  God  in  relation  to  the 
Jewish  nation,  are  now  fully  accomplished. 

Their  separate  nationality  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
secured,  and  perpetuated,  as  an  essential  part  of 
those  means  by  which  the  fulfilment  was  certified, 
of  the  ''  promise  of  God  in  Christ  to  Abraham." 
When  Christ  came,  and  the  proof  of  his  Messiah- 
ship  was  established,  that  end  was  gained  per- 
fectly. They,  in  the  providence  of  God,  were  soon 
afterwards  dispersed,  and  have  never  since  enjoyed 
a  national  being.  And  why  should  they  ?  What 
is  to  be  gained  by  it?  Yet  it  is  believed  by  them, 
and  the  opinion  prevails  very  generally  among 
Christians,  that  they  will  at  some  future  day,  be  re- 
stored to  Canaan,  and  there  yet  become  a  great 
nation.  Are  the  Jews  really  to  be  restored  as  a  na- 
tion, to  Canaan  ?  If  they  are  restored,  by  what 
laws  will  they  there  be  governed  ?  By  those  of  the 
old  covenant  ?  They  are  all  fulfilled,  and  super- 
seded. As  the  laws  of  God,  they  no  longer  exist. 
Sacrifices,  oblations,  priesthood,  circumcision,  are 
not  now  even  when  practised  by  Jews,  obedience 
to  God.  Will  they  be  governed  by  the  new  co- 
venant. Then  they  will  be  Christians,  and  why 
should  they  be  separated  from  other  Christians 
of  different   races  ?      But   do   not   the    prophecies 


120  THE  TEACHINGS 

declare  that  they  will  be  restored  ?  Let  us  exam- 
ine them.  Among  the  passages  which  are  consid- 
ered most  conclusive  on  this  subject,  are  such  as 
these : — "  Behold,  I  will  take  the  children  of  Israel 
from  among  the  heathen  whither  they  have  gone, 
and  gather  them  cm  every  side,  and  bring  them  into 
their  own  land.  And  I  will  make  them  one  nation 
in  the  land,  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel  ;  and  one 
king  shall  reign  over  them  all ;  and  they  shall  no 
more  be  two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divided 
into  two  kingdoms  any  more  at  all ;  neither  shall 
they  defile  themselves  any  more  with  their  idols,  nor 
with  their  detestable  things,  nor  with  any  of  their 
transgressions.  But  I  will  save  them  out  of  all  their 
dwelling  places,  wherein  they  have  sinned,  and  will 
cleanse  them.  So  shall  they  be  my  people  ;  and  I 
will  be  their  God ;  and  David  my  servant,  shall  be 
king  over  them  ;  and  they  shall  all  have  one  Shep- 
herd ;  and  they  shall  walk  in  my  judgments,  and 
obey  my  statues,  and  do  them.  And  they  shall 
dwell  in  the  land  that  I  have  given  unto  Jacob  my 
servant,  wherein  your  fathers  have  dwelt ;  and  they 
shall  dwell  therein,  even  they,  and  their  children, 
and  their  children's  children  forever;  and  my  ser- 
vant David  shall  be  their  prince  forever.  Moreover 
I  will  make  a  covenant  of  peace  with  them  ;  and  I 
will  place  them,  and  multiply  them  ;  and  will  set 
my  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  them  forever  more."* 
<'  The  nation,  and  kingdom,  that  will  not  serve  thee, 
shall  perish ;  yea,  they  shall  be  utterly  wasted." 
"  Thy  people  shall  be  all  righteous  ;  they  shall  in- 
*  Ezek.  xxxvii :  21-26. 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  .  121 

herit  the  laud  forever.""^  If  these,  and  similar  pas- 
sages, guaranty  the  restoration  of  Judah  and  Israel 
to  the  land  of  Canaan,  literally  as  a  nation,  they 
must  of  course  be  interpreted  literally.  But  is  such 
an  interpretation  reasonable  ?  Will  legitimate  Bib- 
lical criticism  tolerate  it  ?  Where  are  the  ten  tribes 
of  Israel  1  They  do  not  exist  upon  the  earth.  How- 
then  can  they  return  literally  ?  Will  the  restored 
twelve  tribes  in  their  land,  where  they  are  to  in- 
crease, and  multiply,  be  all  righteous  ?  If  so,  they 
will  be  what  no  nation  ever  has  been.  Will  all 
other  nations  be  either  tributary  to  them,  or  refusing 
such  subjection,  be  utterly  destroyed?  Is  David  to  rise 
from  the  dead,  and  to  reign  over  united  Judah,  and  Is- 
rael, forever  ?  Is  this  earthly  state  to  continue  with- 
out end  ?  And  that  covenant  of  peace,  and  that 
sanctuary,  or  temple,  which  they  are  to  enjoy  for- 
ever, what  are  they  ?  Something  different  from  the 
gospel,  and  its  blessings?  Will  all  this  occur  lite- 
rally  ?  To  believe  it  is  wholly  out  of  the  question, 
not  only  because  it  is  unreasonable,  but  also  be- 
cause it  directly  contradicts  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant teachings  of  the  New  Testament.  How  then 
is  it  to  be  interpreted  ?  Plainly,  like  all  other  simi- 
lar portions  of  the  old  testament,  according  to  its 
figurative  sense.  Having  seen  thus  much,  the  mean- 
ing is  at  once  obvious.  All  these  texts,  under  the 
gorgeous  figures  which  enshroud  them,  of  the  return 
to  Canaan  of  all  Israel,  their  prosperity,  and  their 
triumphs,  predict  simply,  their  ultimate  conversion  to 

'fisa.  Ix :  X2-21. 


122  *  THE  TEACHINGS 

Christianity^  their  union  with  the  people  of  God, 
that  Messiah,  (the  spiritual  David,  unto  whom  all 
nations  shall  be  subdued,)  shall  reign  over  them,  and 
that  purged  from  their  sins  by  his  blood,  they  shall 
rejoice  in  the  covenant  of  peace,  (the  gospel  of 
Christ,)  and  in  their  king  Messiah,  and  in  their  glori- 
ous sanctuary,  (the  church  of  the  Redeemer,)  forever 
more. 

Thus  have  we  seen  that  there  is  no  reason  for 
the  further  separate  nationality  of  the  Jew^s,  and 
no  scripture  in  support  of  the  opinion  that  they  will 
ever  be  restored  literally  to  Canaan.  And,  besides, 
the  gospel  has  long  ago,  ^*  broken  dow^n  the  middle 
wall  of  partition"  between  the  Jews,  and  the  Gen- 
tiles. Henceforth  "they  are  one  fold,"  and  have 
but  "one  Shepherd."  "God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons."  In  his  sight  there  are  no  distinctions 
among  men  ;  "  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circum- 
cision nor  uncircumcision,  Barbarian,  Scythian, 
bond,  nor  free.""^  The  rejection  of  Christ's  doc- 
trine by  the  Jews,  led  to  the  persecution,  and 
dispersion  of  the  disciples,  and  thus  became  "the 
riches  of  the  world."  What  now  shall  be  their  con- 
version, "  but  life  from  the  dead  ?"t  When  "  the 
fullness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come  in  ;"  that  is, 
when  Christians  of  all  nations,  shall  become  Chris 
tians  indeed  ;  shall  act  towards  Israelites  as  they 
do  towards  other  men  ;  their  prejudices  will  cease, 
they  too  will  be  converted,  and  make  up  their  part 
of  the  fullness  of  the  riches  of  Christ.     The  Jews 

*Col.iii:  11.  tRom.xi:  11-15. 


OF  THE  COVRNANTS.  IS8 

were  the  *'  true  olive  tree,"  of  which  Christ  is  the 
root  and  fatness.  When  they  rejected  him,  they 
as  branches,  were  broken  off,  and  the  Gentiles, 
branches  of  the  wild  olive,  were  grafted  in  ;  or  took 
their  place  in  relation  to  Christ.  But  when  their 
unbelief  shall  cease,  they  shall  be  restored  to  the 
favor  of  God,  as  humble  followers  of  him  "  who 
died  for  all,  that  those  who  live,  should  not  hence- 
forth live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died 
for  them,  and  rose  again." 

4.  From  these  covenants,  together  with  the  his- 
tory of  Israel,  and  instructions  of  the  prophets,  you 
learn,  fourthly,  that  the  gospel  church  was  not  visi- 
ble until  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Men  eminently  pious  ;  deeply  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  true  religion,  existed  in  every  age  ;  not 
among  the  Jews  only,  but  also  among  the  Gentiles. 
They  were  all  believers  in  the  Messiah  promised  as 
yet  to  come.  But  they  were  not  visibly  organized 
as  the  kingdom,  or  church  of  the  Redeemer.  The 
gospel  covenant,  which  was  their  guide,  and  sup- 
port, has  existed,  as  we  have  seen,  from  '•  before  the 
founda^n  of  the  world."  It  is,  therefore,  really  the 
oldest  of  all  the  covenants.  It  is  consequently,  called 
the  new  covenant,  not  in  respect  of  the  date  of  its 
origin,  but  of  the  period  of  its  visible  administra- 
tion, which  did  not  commence  until  after  the  old 
covenant  had  served  its  purposes,  was  fulfilled,  and 
had  passed  away.  For  all  that  concerned  holiness, 
and  salvation,  it  was,  nevertheless,  fully  as  effective 
immediately  after  the  fall,  as  it  is  at  this  hour. 
Christ  Jesus  was  *' A  Lamb  slain  from  the  founda- 


124  THE  TEACHINGS 

tion  of  the  world."^  All  who  in  any  age  have  been 
saved,  have  obtained  their  deliverance  through  faith 
in  him.  Up,  however,  to  the  tinie  of  his  personal 
appearing  upon  earth,  there  was  no  formal  outward 
organization.  The  only  external  administration 
was  legal,  and  typical.  To  any  one  who  will  ma- 
turely examine  the  subject,  these  facts  must  be  ap- 
parent. Readily  may  you  trace  the  approach  of 
the  church  to  the  period  of  its  visibility.  Previous 
to  the  advent,  the  covenant,  and  kingdom  of  Christ, 
are  ever  spoken  of,  as  being  in  the  future.  By  Eze- 
kiel  Jehovah  said,  "I  will  establish  unto  you  an 
everlasting  covenant."!  And,  in  another  place,  "  I 
will  bring  you  into  the  bonds  of  the  covenant."J 
By  ^Daniel  he  said,  '*  In  the  days  of  these  kings  [the 
Roman  Emperors]  will  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed ;  and  the 
kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other  people  ;  but  it 
shall  break  in  pieces,  and  consume  all  these  king- 
doms ;  and  it  shall  stand  forever."||  Thus  did  all 
the  prophets  speak  of  the  church,  up  to  that  moment 
when  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  was  closed. 
The  kingdom  was  not  yet  formally  inaugurated. 
You  open  the  new  Testament,  and  what  do  you 
there  find  ?  John  the  Baptist  comes,  "preaching  in 
the  wilderness  of  Judea,  and  saying.  Repent  ye,  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.^^^  "  Messiah 
the  prince"  appears.  He  is  recognized  in  his  bap- 
tism, as  the  "  Son  of  God."^    Having  entered  upon 

*  Rev.  xiii :  8.  f  Ezek.  xvi :  60.  J  lb.  xx :  37. 

II  Dan.  ii :  44.  §  Matt,  iii :  1.  H  Matt,  iii :  16, 17. 


OF  THE  COVENANT?.  125 

his  ministry,  he  proclaims  of  the  kingdom,  "It  is 
nigh  thee,  even  at  the  doors ;"  at  this  moment,  ''  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."^  To  which  an 
apostle  adds,  "  Now  is  come  the  kingdom  of  our 
God."t 

It  may  be  instructive  to  mark  the  precise  point  of 
time  at  which  the  church  of  Christ  became  a  visible 
organization.  To  do  this  we  must  ascertain  w^hat  it  is 
exactly,  which  places  the  church  in  this  visible  state. 
It  is  as  you  will  at  once  see,  upon  reflection,  not  spiri- 
tualit}^,  nor  orthodoxy,  nor  both  these  together,  but 
external  form.  Without  spirituality,  and  orthodoxy, 
there  can  certainly  be  no  true  church.  They  are 
essential  to  its  very  existence.  Yet  these  alone,  do 
not  constitute  its  visibility,  since  in  that  case  it 
would  have  been  visible  long  before  the  days  of 
Abraham.  And  there  are  many  men  eminently 
pious,  in  the  present  day,  who  whatever  may  be  their 
devotion  to  God,  are  not  literally  connected  with  the 
visible  church  ;  which  could  not  be  the  case  if  spi- 
ritual qualities  only,  were  necessary  to  that  union. 
What  more  is  required  then,  to  make  these  good 
men  members  of  the  church  ?  They  must,  I  an- 
swer, be  baptised,  and  receive  the  Lord^s  supper. 
These  ordinances,  therefore,  mark  the  line  of  sepa- 
ration between  the  church  and  the  world.  In  the 
truth  of  this  statement,  we  have,  happilj?-,  the  con- 
currence of  every  denomination  of  Christians.  They 
all  teach  that  those  who  are  baptised,  and  received 
at  the  Lord's  table,  are  thus  united  with  the  church, 

*  Luke  xvii :  21,  t  Rev.  xii :  10. 


126  THE  TEACFTJNGS 

4 
and  that  those  who  are  not  so  baptised,  and  received, 
whatever  may  be  their  piety,  or  excfellence  in  other 
respects,  are  out  of  the  visible  church.  These 
ordinances,  doubtless,  do  not  draw  the  line  af  dis- 
tinction between  the  church  and  the  world,  exactly 
where  God  will  place  it  at  the  last  day,  because 
they  are  administered  by  fallible  men,  who  are  lia- 
ble to  mistake  the  claims  of  those  who  receive  them. 
Many,  we  have  reason  to  fear,  are  in  the  visible 
church,  who  will  not,  at  the  last  daj%  be  found  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Judge  ;  and  many  are  probably, 
not  in  the  visible  church,  who  will  have  a  place  then 
in  the  church  triumphant.  It  is,  nevertheless,  true, 
that  the  ordinances,  usually  called  sacraments, 
mark  the  established  boundaries  between  the  world 
and  the  visible  church. 

These  principles  are  settled.  Let  them  now  be 
applied.  John  the  Baptist  began  to  draw  the  line 
of  separation,  by  the  administration  of  baptism  to 
the  repenting  Israelites,  thus  making  "  ready  a  peo- 
ple prepared  for  the  Lord."  The  disciples  by  their 
baptisms,  made  it  still  more  distinct.  Now  the  visi- 
bility began  dimly  to  appear,  as  in  the  distant 
horizon,  the  faint  outline  of  a  towering  mountain. 
Christ  himself  finished  it  when  in  an  upper  room, 
the  same  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  he  insti- 
tuted, and  administered  the  sacred  supper.  At  that 
hour  the  separation  was  complete,  the  kingdom  set 
up,  and  the  church  arose,  visible  and  bright,  like 
the  morning  sun,  shining  without  a  cloud.  The 
next  day  he  died  for  his  people,  upon  the  cross;  he 
was  buried  ;   he  rose    again  ;  he   "  ascended  up  on 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  127 

high,  leading  captivity  captive,  that  he  might  give 
gifts  unto  men."  Thenceforward  when  disciples 
were  united  with  his  followers,  it  is  said  of  them, 
"  The  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily,  the  saved."* 
The  exact  point  of  time,  therefore,  at  which  the 
church  of  Christ  became  visible,  was  on  the  night  of 
his  betrayal,  and  at  this  moment  of  the  conclusion 
of  the  sacred  supper.  From  that  moment  it  was  the 
visible  church  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

5.  From  the  covenants  now  before  you,  is  derived, 
fifthly,  rich  information  regarding  the  scriptural 
qualifications  for  membership  in  the  visible  church 
of  the  Redeemer. 

Dr.  Hodge,  in  the  article  already  noticed,!  justly 
says,  that  "  In  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  is  any 
condition  of  membership  prescribed,  other  than  that 
contained  in  the  answer  of  Philip  to  the  Eunuch 
who  desired  baptism,  '  If  thou  believest  w^ith  all 
thy  heart,  thou  mayest.'  Nor  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  there  any  other  condition  prescribed."  Only  be- 
lievers in  Jesus  Christ  are  entitled  to  the  distinc- 
tion. Unhappily,  however,  this  fact  does  not  com- 
mand universal  concurrence,  and  these  covenants 
are  appealed  to,  as  proof  that  infants,  as  well  as  be- 
lievers, are  to  be  baptised,  and  received  into  the 
church  !  And  do  they  really  furnish  the  authority 
claimed  ?  It  is  assumed  that  "  the  covenant  of 
promise  to  Abraham,  of  God  in  Christ,"  for  him, 
and  his  seed,  is  equally,  and  in  all  ages,  literally  a 

*  Acts  ii  ;  47—'  0  <5e  KvpLos  Trpoaeridei  rovg  (TO)^o[icvovs  Kad^  fjixepav  rJJ 

€KK\riaca,  f  Pdaceton  Review,  ut  supra. 


128  THE  TEACHINGS 

covenant  with  every  other  believer,  for  him,  and  his 
seed  !  But  can  this  proposition  be  true  ?  If  God 
fulfils  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  his  seed,  to 
every  other  believer,  and  his  seed,  he  does  so,  of 
course,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant. Now  turn  back  to  that  covenant,  if  you 
please,  and  examine  it  closely,  that  you  may  see 
what  its  promises  are,  and  ascertain  how,  in  the 
first  place,  they  are  to  be  fulfilled  to  every  other  be- 
liever, as  well  as  to  Abraham.  These  promises 
were,  that  God  would  make  of  Abraham  a  great 
nation ;  that  kings  should  descend  from  him  ;  that 
he,  and  his  posterity,  should  possess  the  whole  land 
of  Ganaan  ;  that  he  would  bless  him,  and  make 
him  a  blessing ;  and  that  he  should  be  the  father  of 
Messiah.  These  are  its  promises.  And  you  are 
told  by  grave  and  learned  men,  that  these  are  equally 
promises  to  every  other  believer  !  And  are  you  ex- 
pected to  believe  a  proposition  so  preposterous  ? 
That  there  are  multitudes  who  do  credit  it,  is  to  me 
wholly  unaccountable,  except  upon  the  supposition 
that  they  have  never  examined  the  subject. 

And  now,  in  the  second  place,  determine  if  you 
can,  how  these  promises  apply  to  the  literal  seed  of 
believers.  The  connection  with  this  covenant,  claimed 
for  them,  on  the  ground  that  they  are  the  children  of 
believers,  is  not  less  preposterous  than  that  advo- 
cated for  their  parents.  It  assumes  that  the  cove- 
nant established  a  spiritual  relation  between  Abra- 
ham, and  his  infant  offspring  ;  and  that  it  establishes 
now,  the  same  relation  between  every  believer  and 
his   infant  offspring  !     Need   I   say  that  this  whole 


OF  THE  COVENANT^'t  129 

category  is  a  mistake,  from  beginning  to  end  ?  It  is 
certain  that  no  spiritual  relation  not  before  existing, 
was  established  by  this  covenant,  between  Abraham 
and  his  infant  seed.  He  was  made  the  father,  not 
of  all  the  redeemed,  as  some  have  imagined,  but  *'  of 
all  them  that  believe,'^^  of  whatever  nation.  Infants 
are  redeemed  ;  but  infants  do  not  believe.  To  his 
own  descendants  he  was  ''the  father  of  circum- 
cision." He  was  the  spiritual  father,  so  far  as  we 
know,  of  no  one,  assuredly  not  of  his  own  infant 
seed,  unless  the  absurdity  can  be  admitted  that 
spiritual  qualities  (that  is,  that  religion)  may  be 
propagated  by  natural  generation.  The  covenant 
therefore  established  no  new  spiritual  relations  be- 
tween even  Abraham  and  his  infant  seed.  Much 
less  does  it  establish  now,  any  such  relations  be- 
tween believers  and  their  infant  seed.  "  The  blessing 
of  Abraham  has  indeed,  come  upon  the  Gentiles," 
but  in  no  such  acceptations  as  these.  That  blessing 
consists  not  in  creating  any  spiritual  relations  be- 
tween believers  and  their  infant  offspring,  but  for 
themselves^  in  having  their  faith  counted  to  them  for 
righteousness,  as  Abraham's  faith  was  counted  to 
him  for  righteousness.  As  to  their  children,  if  they 
die  in  infancy,  they  are,  and  ever  have  been,  and 
ever  will  be  saved,  by  the  merits  and  righteousness 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  independently  of  parentage, 
or  ordinances,  of  any  character  whatever.  If  they 
grow  up  to  maturity,  they  are  blessed  in  being  taught 
by  Christian  parents  the  way  of  life  and  salvation 
through  .Jesus  Christ.  The  covenant  with  Abraham, 
for  him,  and  his  seed,  is  not  therefore,  equally  a  cove- 


130  THE  TEACHINGS 

nant  with  every  other  believer,  for  him,  and  his  seed. 
To  presume  consequently,  that  the  infant  seed  of  be- 
lievers, because  they  are  such,  are  entitled  without 
repentance,  and  faith,  to  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  membership  in  the  visible  church,  is  a  deroga- 
tion of  the  covenants,  a  violation  of  the  analogy  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  in  opposition  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  destructive  to  all  the  best  interests  of 
religion. 

What  then,  is  the  true  teaching  of  the  covenants 
on  this  subject  ?  It  is  most  plain  and  obvious.  In 
the  Jewish,  or  typical  chuch,  all  was  external,  and 
earthly.  The  church  itself  was  national  and  con- 
fined in  its  membership  to  the  Hebrews.  Literal 
descent  from  Abraham,  with  circumcision,  conferred 
a  full  right  to  all  its  privileges.  Its  services  were 
symbols.  Nor  did  its  worship  necessarily  demand 
any  spiritual  qualifications.  The  Christian  Church, 
the  reality,  is  internal  and  spiritual.  It  is  not  na- 
tional, but  individual,  and  extends  its  blessings  to 
all  men,  irrespective  of  races.  The  spiritual  seed 
of  Abraham  (believers)  who  have  the  spiritual  cir- 
cumcision (the  regeneration  of  the  soul)  are  alone  en- 
titled to  its  privileges.  Its  worship  demands  the 
homage  of  the  heart ;  for  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they 
that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."*  This  is  the  true  and  only  scriptural 
analogy  between  the  Jewish  Church  and  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  The  covenants  therefore,  prove  con- 
clusively, that  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in 

*  John  iv  :  24. 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  131 

our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  essential  qualifications 
for  membership  in  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer. 

6.  These  covenants  teach  you,  sixthly,  that  the 
entire  series  of  "  signs  and  seals  of  grace,"  which 
our  brethren  have  engrafted  upon  them,  is  not  only 
wholly  imaginary,  but  also  highly  pernicious. 

And  what  are  these  '*  signs  and  seals,"  which  you 
have  been  so  often  told,  are  invariable  appen- 
dages of  the  covenants  ?  Dr.  Dick  says  :  "  A  seal 
has  been  defined  to  be  the  visible  sign  of  an  invisible 
grace  ;  and  may  be  more  generally  described  as  an 
institution  of  which  it  is  the  design  to  signify  the 
blessings  promised  in  the  covenant,  and  to  give  an 
assurance  of  them  to  those  by  whom  its  terms  are 
fulfilled."*  Our  brethren  proceed  accordingly,  to  find 
seals  of  some  sort,  for  all  the  covenants,  which  they 
do  not  fail  to  account  as  so  many  "  signs  of  invisible 
grace  !"  Of  the  law,  or  ''  covenant  of  works,"  under 
w^hich  man  was  originally  created,  they  affirm  that 
"  The  tree  of  life"  was  the  seal.  But  in  this  conclu- 
sion all  are  not  agreed,  some  insisting  that  "The 
tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil"  was  the 
seal  ;  others  that  it  was  "  Paradise  ;"  and  still  others 
that  it  was  "the  Sabbath  day."f  The  learned  Witsius 
however,  takes  bold  ground,  and  assumes  that  all 
these  four  things  were  legitimatel}^  so  many  seals  of 
the  covenant.  J  For  the  sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant 
with  Noah,  they  point  you  to  the  rainbow  ;  and  for 

*  Theol.  Vol.  1.  p.  474.  Is  it  not  a  little  surprising  that  a  Cal- 
vinist,  as  was  Dr.  Dick,  should  teach  that  doctrine  ? 

t  Dick's  Theol.  Vol.  2,  p.  356.     X  Dr.  Oe^on.  Fed.  Lib.  1  cap.  6. 


132  THE  TEACHINGS 


1 


the  sign  and  seal  of  "  the  covenant  confirmed  of  God 
in  Christ,"  to  Abraham,  they  refer  you  to  circum- 
cision* Under  the  New  Testament,  baptism  and 
the  Lord's  supper,  they  teach  you  are  the  seals 
which  signify,  and  the  signs  of  the  blessings,  prom- 
ised in  the  gospel  covenant  ! 

It  must,  I  think,  be  plain  to  you,  that  no  such 
'*  institution''''  as  this  appears  in  the  word  of  God. 
What !  A  mere  ordinance,  administered  by  men, 
and  having  the  effect  ''  to  give  assurance  to  those 
who  receive  it,"  that  they  shall  be  recipients  of  all 
the  blessings  promised  in  the  gospel  covenant  ! 
Can  this  be  reconciled  with  the  teachings  of 
evang;elical  religion?  Never.  It  attributes  to  baptism 
and  to  the  Lord's  supper,  vastly  more  of  efficacy 
than  ever  was  assigned  them  by  the  great  author 
of  our  salvation.  But  as  to  the  alleged  "  institution" 
itself;  where  were  ^' the  signs  and  seals"  of  the 
covenant  of  Eden,  in  w^hich  we  have  the  original 
announcement  of  a  Deliverer  from  sin  ?  There  were 
none.  Where  were  the  ''signs  and  seals"  of  "the 
covenant  confirmed  of  God  in  Christ"  to  Abraham, 
and  which  has  been  called  '^  the  covenant  of  grace?" 
There  Vv'^ere  none.  To  find  them  our  brethren  are 
obliged  to  resort  to  quite  another  covenant — the 
covenant  of  circumcision — a  license  not  allowable 
in  Biblical  interpretation.  Where  were  ''  the  signs 
and  seals"  of  the  covenant  which  gave  to  Abraham 
the  land  of  Canaan,  and  made  him  a  separate  na- 
tion ?  Where  the  "  signs  and  seals"  of  the  covenant 
of  Sinai?  No  such  *' institutions,"  appear.  The  rain- 
bow^ was  no  sealj  or  "  visible  sign  of  an  invisible 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  133 

grace,"  to  Noah,  or  to  any  one  else.     It  was  simply 
"  a  token"  pledging  God,  according  to  his  promise, 
not  again  to  destroy  the  world  by  a  flood  of  waters.' 
Nor  was  circumcision  itself,  of  which  our  brethren 
have   made  so  much,  either  a  sign,  or  a  seal,  in  the 
popular  theological  sense,  of  any  thing,  to   any  one, 
beyond  Abraham  himself.     "  He  received  the   sign 
ofcircumcision,  a  seal  of  the  righteousness   of  the 
faith  which  he  had,  yet  being   uncircumcised,   that 
he   might   be    the 'father  of  all  them  that  believe, 
though  they  be  not  circumcised."*     This  is   Paul's' 
exposition  of  the  subject.  If  he  is  right,  then  circum- 
cision was  to  Abraham  himself,  a  seal  of  the  right- 
eousness  of   the   faith    which    he  had   before  \is 
circumcision.     But  it  was  no  seal,  or  "  visible  sign 
of  invisible  grace,"  to  any  one  else,  even  among  the 
Hebrews,  either  in  his  day,   or  afterwards.     Thus 
baseless,  not  to  say  mischievous,  is  this  whole  doc- 
trine of  "  signs   and   seals  of  the  covenants,"  in  its 
application  even  to  circumcision.    How  much  more 
baseless  is  it,  and  mischievous,  when  it   is  made  to 
refer  to  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  !     These  or- 
dinances are  to  their  recipients,  signs   and  seals  of 
nothing  whatever.     They  bear   glorious   testimony 
that   "Christ   died    for  our  sins"  according  to   the 
scriptures  ;  and  that   he  was   buried ;  and  that  he 
rose  again  from  the  dead,  the  third  day,    according, 
to  the  scriptures."!     But  they  are  no  "  institution  of 
which  it   is   the    design   to   signify   the   blessings 

*  Rom.  iv  :  10-71.  t  1  Cor.  xv  :  3,  4. 


J 34  THE  TEACHINGS 

promised  in  the  Lgospel]  covenant,  and  to  give  an 
assurance  of  them,  to  those  by  whom  its  terms  are 
fulfilled."*  The  whole  doctrine  "  of  signs  and  seals 
is  utterly  destitute  of  authority ;  and  all  its  teach- 
ings manifestly  in  conflict  with  evangelical  Christi- 
anity; since  they  attribute  to  these  ordinances,  results 
which  belong  exclusively  to  the  work  of  the   Holy 

Spirit.  .     , 

7    All  these  covenants,  both  those  which  promised 
♦  the'coming  of  Messiah,  and  those  which  so  carefully 
directed  the  circumstances  in  relation  to  his  advent 
point,  in  the  last  place,  for  their  complete  and  final 
consummation,  to  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord 

Jesus  Christ.  .<.<•. 

"  As  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  alter 
this  the   judgment;  so  Christ  was   once  offered  to 
bear  the  sins  of  many  ;    and  unto  them  that  look 
for  him.  shall  he  appear  the  second  time,   without 
sin     unto    salvation."!     The   mediatorial   work,  to 
which  he  was  assigned,  by  the  covenant  of  redemp- 
tion  will  one  day  be  finished.     He  will  at  last  have 
"made  up  his  jewels."     Then  will    he  "  deliver  up 
the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,"  having  '  put 
down  all  rule,  and  all  authority,  and  power;  for  he 
must  reign  till  he    hath  put  all  enemies  under  his 
feet  "t     He  himself  said  :— Hereafter  shall  ye  '  see 
the  "son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with 
power  and  great  glory."§    His  apostles  take  up  this 
declaration,  and  repeat  it ;  assuring  us  that  at   his 

*  Dick  ui  supra.  t  Heb.  ix  :  27,  28. 

.  tl  Cor.  xt:  24,25.  •  §  Matt.xxxiy  :  30,  31. 


OF  THE  COVENANTS.  I35 

.second  coming,  "  he  shall  descend  from  heaven  with 
a  shout,  w,th  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  w   h 

meet  the  Lord  m  the  air;  and  so  shall  we  be  eier 
wath  the  Lord.-  How  great  is  that  grace  which  by 
his  first  coming,  you  have  already  received  !    And 
how  unspeakable  will  be  "  the  glory  which  will  be 
revealed  m  you,"  when  he  shall  come  again  >  Char- 
actenstic  of  the  one*advent  it  is  said  :-"The  grace 
of  Go     which  bringeth  salvation,   hath   appeared 
unto  all  men,  teaching  us  that  denying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  rig\teou:iy 
and  godly,  m  this  present  world."     By  the  other,  we 
are  authorised  to  look   "for  that  blessed  hope,  and 
the   glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God,  and  our 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,"t  "  M'ho  shall  change  our  vi^e 
body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  gloriou! 
body  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able 
even  to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself"!     To  what 
amazing  events  then,  are  we  destined.     Thev  shall 
not  however  occur  until  the  gospel  has  achieved  all 

musTfi  ^  '"r^'"     "  ^'^  ^^^"^^«-^  °^  '^^^  world 
must   first  "become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 

of  his  Christ."     "Then   cometh  the   end."     Time 

ceases.  Christ,  and  his  people,  are  glorified  together 

Heaven  is  filled  with  everlasting  rejoicing. 

MThess.iv:  16,17.        f  Tit.  ii :  II-13.         tPM,.iii:2i. 


Deacidified  using  the  Bookkeeper  process.. 
Neutralizing  agent:  Magnesium  Oxide  ■ 
Treatment  Date:  July  2005  *  | 

PreservationTechnologies 

A  WORLD  LEADER  IN  PAPER  PRESERVATION^ 

1 1 1  Thomson  Park  Dnve  m 

Cranberry  Township,  PA  1 6066  * 

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